Hiccup had never seen a ship like it.
It was huge. Longer than the longest longship that Berk had in her harbors, wider than the doors of the Great Hall, taller than a house set upon the sea. Dark, heavy, and menacing. Hiccup didn't realize that the entire thing was plated in metal until he got up close. His jaw fell open when he saw it. He'd never imagined anything like it; a ship, coated in metal? But how? How did it not sink? How was it not sitting at the bottom of the ocean?
Later in life, Hiccup would learn more about physics and engineering. He would make friends around the world, intellectuals and inventors, who could explain how a huge ship with a metal skin floated soundly atop the waves, but in that moment, Hiccup could do naught but openly stare. So entranced by the unimaginable feat, Hiccup actually forgot for a moment that he was a captive – until their rowboat bumped against the side of the ship and one of his captors grabbed onto a steep metal ladder built into the hull of the ship. Growling at him in odd accents, the barbarian warriors shoved Hiccup toward the ladder. One went up in front, then Hiccup, then the others. His foot made it difficult to climb, but Hiccup had had a few years of practice. Besides, with three well-armed barbarians behind you, climbing with one foot becomes easier.
They brought him at once to the bridge of the ship, where the captain was waiting. Unlike a normal boat, the bridge of this ship was covered in a sort of shell of wood and metal – the outer skin was covered in metal, as were most surfaces of the ship. Hiccup had seen Ru's fire bounce right off of the hull and had to admire its effectiveness, but couldn't help but wonder why on earth they'd bothered to dragon-proof their ship.
The captain of the ship himself was actually rather unimpressive to look at. He was dressed similarly to his crew, but the way they walked around him, looked at him, it was obvious he was in charge. Hiccup noticed that he favored his left arm, holding it close to himself. It was angry red and twisted, marred by an old and vicious burn. He addressed Hiccup in an odd language that Hiccup had never studied before. Upon recognizing Hiccup's expression of non-recognition, the captain tutted and switched to heavily-accented Norse.
"The Dragon Tamer," He greeted, and bowed mockingly. "An absolute honor, my liege," he sneered, and his crew chuckled. "I must admit, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, you're smaller than I'd imagined."
Hiccup tightened his lips while the crew laughed. So they knew who he was, what he could do. No use beating around the bush, then.
"What do you want from me?" He asked, eyes steeled despite his apprehension.
"Ooh, your father's trained you up, I see." The captain nodded to him, and then became serious.
"I find myself in need of a dragon tamer. Like yourself."
Hiccup squinted, almost annoyed. "And you couldn't just ask nicely?" The captain glared.
"Well, see, that's the thing: I'm not so much looking for friendly advice as I am permanent employment. You understand, surely? I know the Vikings of the archipelago aren't exactly unfamiliar with slavery. 'Specially that eastern one, what's his name? Ugg, or sommats?" he acted like it was a question, and smiled cruelly. "We could pop by and ask him, just to make sure. I wonder what price I could get off 'em for think of the son of a chief, eh?" The captain laughed and walked around Hiccup, waiting for a response. Hiccup held his tongue, because there was nothing he could say that would help his situation, and he knew it. Eventually, he said,
"Who are you?"
"Name is not important, really. But you may call me Lech. I'm a humble merchant and sailor, as you can see." He bowed, and spread his arms to his ship, as if it were an ordinary cargo vessal. "No one you'd know off memory, at any rate. Don't make a habit of coming this far west. But when you hear the Viking's have got themselves a dragon tamer good enough to get his story to the continent, well, that's something worth checking out for meself."
Hiccup glared. "And what, exactly, do you want me to do?" Hiccup asked, eyebrows angry. Lech laughed at him, amused by the sight of such a spindly, freckled boy looking so defiant in his defeat.
"Ah, now there's good lad. I did expect more of a fight, but who am I to complain?" The captain smiled and came over and draped an arm around Hiccup's shoulders. "Well, since you asked: I've got this lot of dragons, see? Right bit of trouble, they are. I'm set to turn a handsome profit on 'em, but I can't control them worth limpets."
"Profit?" Hiccup asked suddenly, "You mean to sell them?"
"I did say I was a merchant, did I not?"
"Of dragons?" Hiccup cried, scandalized, "what in Valhalla for?"
The captain scoffed. "For? How would I know? Sport, riding, hunting, hides, anything." He picked at his black fingernails casually, "I sell a pack of Snowbiters to the wanderers up north to pull their sleighs, I sell a big old Titan to the Gauls so they can skin it for their ceremonies – hel, I got the Roman Emperor himself on my bill, looking for some more challengingstock for his Coliseum after his gladiators ate up all the North African stock. I don't actually care what they use 'em for. For me," he turned, a glint in his eyes, "for me, it's just a matter of gold, see. Very valuable goods, dragons. A man can live like a king, selling 'em to the right buyers. Of course, value is paid in blood. Dragons can be dangerous, as you well know." He said, glancing at Hiccup's leg. He petted his own arm in a meaningful way, fingers skimming the marred flesh in a pained memory. "So what I need you to do," he poked Hiccup on the chest, his stinking breath hovering down onto the disgusted Viking's face, "is train 'em up and show 'em who's boss." Hiccup turned his head challengingly,
"Why should I do anything you say?"
Lech laughed, as if this were a grand joke. "Why should you do as I say? Oh, come now, you're a Viking, you ought to know how this works." He pulled a dagger from his belt and put it to Hiccup's throat. His laughter evaporated suddenly. "Your life should be incentive enough."
Not wanting to go down without a fight, Hiccup moved brashly, shooting out an arm and taking Lech's dagger for himself in one swift move. It would've been impressive if it hadn't been so incredibly stupid. Lech yelled, and drew a sword from a sheath on the back of his belt, making quick work of disarming Hiccup. Within a few seconds, he had Hiccup's left arm in his grip, twisted and immobile. The edge of his sword dug into the skin of Hiccup's forearm until the Viking felt the first, wet pricks of blood.
"You already got one stump," Lech hissed furiously in his ear, "You want a matching set?"
Hiccup said nothing, but grit his teeth and looked down.
"Didn't think so." Lech spat at Hiccup's feet as he shoved him away. "You rethink my offer carefully, boy. I might just let you live, if you're good. But test me again, and I'll grind you into meal for the dragons," he said flippantly, sheathing his sword with an angry shink. Lech looked to his men, glared at Hiccup one last time, and barked several orders in that foreign language. Immediately, two burly men on either side of Hiccup took hold of his arms and dragged him down into the lower deck.
As the captain followed after them into the darkened bowels of the ship, two guards watched him go and glanced at each other.
"Did you tell the boss?" one asked quietly.
"About the Eastern?" grunted the other, glancing warily up at the sky. "No. Fire splashed right over the hull, couldn't even hear anything down below." His fellow nodded.
"Good. 'Less it comes back, don' need him knowing."
"Hope it doesn't come back."
"Ay. Still," the first sniffed, turning to grimace at the sky, "draw out the nets, just in case. Boss'll want it alive, if he sees it."
Toothless had his arms wrapped around Astrid's waist, and was holding on far more tightly than he actually needed too. No one spoke for a long time. Ru had to fly high, and slower than he would have liked in order to keep his wingbeats as quiet as possible.
Eventually, Astrid noticed that Toothless was actually shaking against her. At one point, the clouds melted beneath them, and for a few moments, they could see the distant ocean surface glittering below. Toothless tensed, his arms hugging Astrid tight enough to hurt.
"Are you alright, Toothless?" Astrid whispered in concerned dragonese. Toothless wouldn't look up at her.
"I… I d-don't… it…," He stammered. She waited for him to continue, patiently. He sighed. "It scares me. Flying. Without wings." He admitted miserably. Astrid nodded in sudden understanding. "Don't tell Hiccup," He said in embarrassment. She smiled sympathetically, and patted his hand. He caught another glimpse of waves and groaned, digging his face into the back of Astrid's shirt. How humans suffered this – how humans enjoyed this, Toothless could not understand. He'd decided weeks ago that Hiccup was completely mad, but now he was beginning to wonder if all the Vikings were just as bonkers as his Viking. Why, if he leaned just a little too far to either side, he'd fall, fall, fall, and… Toothless made himself focus very intently on the feel of Astrid's tunic against his cheek. Mad, he thought against her back, every last one of you is completely mad.
Ru, having overheard the exchange, hummed sympathetically so the two could feel it in his neck. "I am sorry, bloodbrother," the big dragon said to Toothless, "I cannot fly any lower without giving up our cloudcover." Toothless only groaned in response, a longsuffering, miserable sound. Astrid rubbed circles on the back of his hand, comfortingly.
Astrid and Toothless sat up near Ru's head, with Astrid in front, hanging on to Ru's horns, and Toothless hanging on to Astrid for dear life. Stoick, bigger and heavier than the two youths, sat sturdily atop Ru's massive shoulders, legs hooked beneath the joint of his wings. As the only one in the party who could not speak Dragonese, Stoick was left out of most of what sparse conversation there was, but he hardly noticed, for he'd been given a far more important job.
"It'll be just up ahead," He spoke up from behind, and Astrid turned hallway around. "Do you see it?" She asked, now scanning the water for the massive metal-clad ship.
"No," Stoick said, eyes sharp and speaking with his captain's voice, "but you can see its wake, just there. Calm day, even water. I'd say, a few hundred metres out."
Astrid looked down at the water. Faintly, barely decipherable from the foam-tipped waves all around, there was a wide angle of white, still shaking up and down in a bobbing memory of the ship. She would never have spotted it, if Stoick hadn't pointed it out. She relayed the report to Ru, who nodded and began gliding even more swiftly and quietly than before.
Thoughtfully, she turned and looked back at the chief. It was very odd, sometimes, seeing Stoick like this. She'd grown accustomed to seeing him every day; his bellowing laugh, his gruff fathering of Hiccup, and of course Hiccup had complained of all his worst habits to her. The normalcy made her forget sometimes what a legendary warrior, tactician, and sailor Stoick really was. His eyes still scanned the water below.
"Beard of Thor, that's a massive ship," He said. The thought wasn't comforting. Ru had told them what he'd encountered in his last-ditch rescue attempt: a ship, tall and blocky, covered in metal. It was immune to dragon fire – hardly a reassuring prospect. They'd left Berk in a hurry to get to Hiccup, and so they'd spent a good hour in the air trying to decide how, exactly, they planned on attacking a fireproof metal ship. The plan they'd come up with was primarily Ru's idea, and rightly so, for no smash-and-bash-em Viking would have come up with such a boring plan.
They would find the ship and follow it. Tyr and Thor must've been watching over them, because the skies were grey and overcast, with enough cloud cover to hide a dragon even so big as Ru. They would use the clouds to great effect, hiding and waiting as they followed. They would watch the ship carefully, ducking out of their cover just long enough to survey the ship and its layout, and find locate a suitable location for the humans to board. Then, after it was dark, Ru would drop from the sky and float across the water (his breed was gifted at swimming, he revealed,) and help the humans sneak on board the ship. The rest was up to them.
"There it is," Astrid said, and only just refrained from swearing. "It's huge," She breathed, looking at its looming shape coming up toward them. They got a good long look at the thing – even Toothless opened his eyes to gaze at it – before Ru dug his wings and drove upward into the sky, deeper into cloudcover. "It is. So we don't want them to see us just yet, or it'll be over before it can start." He rolled his eye around to look at the humans. "Get comfortable."
They marched Hiccup down long hallways below deck. Hiccup wondered how big this ship actually was. It'd seemed big from the outside, but inside, it was massive. As they escorted him through the ship, Hiccup realized the weight of the metal must've made it sit lower on the waves than the shallow longships he was used to, hiding a large percentage of its bulk. He was slightly surprised to find that, once inside, the interior walls of the ship were predominantly wood. Of course if he'd have thought about it, it would've made sense. Metal was very expensive – even if Lech was as rich as he'd claimed, he would've cut costs where he could afford to. Sailors and warriors filed past him, glaring or watching Hiccup walk by when they could before Lech barked at them to return to their duties. They descended into a third deck, the entrance to which was sealed with a heavy metal door. This deck, like that of the surface, was completely coated in metal. As soon as they passed into the deck, Hiccup could hear the scratching of claws and the hissing of tongues, and muffled cries in dragonese that swore murder and revenge. There was a younger dragon somewhere, crying for its mother.
Lech inhaled through the nose and grimaced, "filthy animals," he grumbled, and shouldered his way past Hiccup to lead his goonies through the prison. It really was like a prison, Hiccup thought. There were rows of locked doors on either side of him, solid metal things with just a tiny slit of a window at the top. Occasionally, the dragons inside would hear them pass, and a blast of fire would roar above their heads from the small windows.
"Oh, keep your damn scales on!" Lech would roar back at the dragons, who cursed him with afflictions and insults that would've made Toothless turn scarlet.
Eventually, they reached the end of the hallway. A large metal door – larger than the others he'd seen, blocked the cell at the end of the block. Where most of the hall had been cramped, the ceiling here dove upwards toward a giant square hatch – from the light leaking in from the cracks, Hiccup surmised it must lead to the deck. This must be how they got the dragons in and out of the ship.
Lech snapped his fingers and gave an order to one of his guards in that odd foreign language. The man nodded and pulled down a visor attached to his helmet. He keyed open a door and stepped inside. There was a scuffle, some scratching, and very muffled dragonese, but it didn't take him long to return with a young monstrous nightmare under his arm. It's mouth was clamped shut by an iron muzzle, and Hiccup's rage flared. It was a youth, no bigger than a slim hunting dog. The burly guard trapped its wings against its sides easily, holding it as if it were a downed pheasant. A wriggling, scared, helpless pheasant.
"Alright, then," Lech's voice echoed off the walls like a dripping oil slick, "Let's see the mighty Dragon Tamer at work, shall we?" A guard prodded Hiccup in the back, pushing him toward the dragon.
The nightmare was furious, and squirming, ready to bite, if only it could open its jaws. But it was also terrified, Hiccup could see. It was so young, it'd probably only learned to fly a year or so ago. He could see it's lungs and heart batting a quick tempo against its captor's grip.
"What do you want me to do?" Hiccup asked Lech, looking at the poor dragon, "You seem to have it under control well enough without me," He glared up at the man holding it. Lech laughed. "This is just a little one. A test, as it were. The bigger ones aren't so easy. But if you can get this one under your thumb and take off its muzzle without getting yourself killed, I'll consider keeping you alive. Now, go on."
Hiccup clenched his jaw and took a step toward the dragon. He reached out a hand toward it, but it recoiled and growled past closed jaws.
"Shhhh," he soothed, and without thinking, slipped into dragonese. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm sorry. Calm down. I'm a prisoner here, too." The little dragon's eyes popped, staring at Hiccup in a transfixed way. It couldn't form any real words behind its muzzle, but dazed comprehension blazed in its eyes. "That's it, calmly. You'll wear yourself out like that, you need your strength."
"What're you doing?" Lech hissed suspiciously, glaring between Hiccup and the dragon.
Hiccup gulped. "Umm… talking to it?" Probably a bad idea to say, he thought to late.
"Talking… talking to it?" Lech said incredulously.
Hiccup pressed his lips together and ignored the man, stepping closer to the young nightmare. He held out his hand again. "May I?" And after a long moment, the small dragon purred and lifted its head up. Hiccup pressed his palm against the soft, young snout, letting the dragon feel the warmth of his palm and trying to exude calm feelings. "If I take this muzzle off, you must promise not to attack me or anyone here," Hiccup told it, and its eyes hardened. "…no matter how detestable they are. Both of our lives depend on it." He added. The dragon glared at him, but ducked its eyes obediently. "Thank you," he breathed, astonished that it would listen to him. It watched him keenly, as if trying to figure out what, exactly, he was. Hiccup looked to Lech.
"You have a key?"
Watching the exchange like a tiger assessing its' next meal, Lech provided a key to Hiccup, who unlocked the muzzle around the nightmare's mouth. The guards stepped back to prepare for a blast of flame, but Hiccup held out his arm. "You're not too hurt, are you?"
"I… am hungry," the nightmare replied, stretching its jaws in a way that indicated he – no, she, for her voice was not a male voice - had been muzzled for some time. "These redbloods have starved me, they are too cowardly to face my flame and my teeth." She hissed. Hiccup nodded.
"I am sorry. We will find you food. Just do not attack, or they will kill you." She glared, but nodded slowly. She was young, and knew the limitations of her size. Hiccup wondered if an older, bigger dragon would have listened to his logic. He held out and arm, and the nightmare strode onto it, holding her head in defiance and glaring at Lech all the while. Once she'd settled, she wrapped her long tail around Hiccup's arm and froze; a small red gargoyle, glaring evil thoughts at her beholders.
There was a silence in which the guards stared slack-jawed at Hiccup, and Hiccup shifted nervously, trying to be brave under the scrutiny of Lech. Lech was not like his men. His mind was as sharp as a rapier, and his eyes darted with a speed to match. "Speaking to it…" he breathed, eyes glinting with a wild, crazed look that Hiccup recognized as greed. "You speak to dragons," He said to Hiccup, and as he stepped closer to Hiccup, the boy almost wished he'd tried something besides Dragonese. "Dragon Tamer," he said, coming right up into the nightmare's face, taunting it in its obedience, "Dragon Whisperer, more like." Lech grinned, and chuckled lowly, madly. "A pretty penny, you'll make for me. Talking to it." He stepped back, and glanced at the nightmare still on Hiccup's arm. A hardness returned to his eyes. He turned and said something to his guards, who darted forward and seized the dragon from Hiccup's arm.
"No!" Hiccup cried as the dragon screeched her surprise, "Stop it! What you doing? I tamed her for you, let her go!"
"Tamed her?" Lech laughed, "oh, you are good." His men locked the muzzle back on the dragon's mouth. Hiccup turned to lunge for her, but a burly guard held him back.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I thought they – I didn't know they'd-" He called after her as they dragged her back to her cell. She glared at him, eyes hurt.
"But that's just a small one," Lech said as they slammed the cell door on the dragon once more, "and we make port at the continental coast in less than a day. So, Dragon Whisperer, let's get to it." A sword appeared at Hiccup's back, sharp and right against his spine. A short stab, and he'd be dead.
"But first, let's be clear with one another. If you even think about turning them against me," He grabbed Hiccup's shoulder and pressed him just a hair further against the blade, "I will make it hurt more than hel itself before I kill you."
Hiccup glared, but it was weaker, now. What choice did he have?
With no warning and no ceremony, the guard holding the sword sheathed his weapon, grabbed Hiccup behind the neck, open the massive door in front of him, and shoved Hiccup headlong into the dark.
They flew for so long, Toothless fell into a very tense sleep against Astrid. His arms were still clenched against around her waist, but at least he was less miserable than when he was awake. Ru and Astrid occupied themselves with conversation, both only partially invested because of their anxiety, but needing something to keep boredom at bay. Stoick had somehow fallen asleep while sitting upright. Ru asked about it, and Astrid told him about how some Vikings would train themselves to sleep in all scenarios, in order to keep up their strength in a warzone.
As dusk fell and they squinted against the setting sun, Stoick woke up. He seemed immediately alert, battle-ready. Even though the cloud cover prevented him from seeing the waters below, he looked down, as if he could see his son through the clouds. Toothless did not stir until the night was dark around them. When he noticed the dark sky, he asked Ru why they hadn't descended yet.
"It is only late dusk," Ru explained, "The sun is merely below the clouds. It is still bright below. See how the clouds shine," he looked down at the clouds beneath them, glowing a dull orange in the concealed dusk light. And so, they coasted for a very tense hour or so, between an orange plane of clouds and a dark blue bowl where the stars twinkled into view, oblivious to their mad rescue mission. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, the glow of the clouds faded, until they shone white and grey in the moonlight. With a thrum, Ru dipped his wings gently and dove into the blackness below the clouds.
He glided like a fishing bird above the waves, silent and swift. Ru made sure to land in the boat's wake so as not to create new ripples that would give away their position. The water was cold, and the humans all tucked their legs up along Ru's spine as he swam like a serpent toward the ship, his wings in the water, working like two giant rudders to steer him. Toothless had stopped shaking out of fear once they'd hit the water, but now he shivered from the cold and from anxiety. Stoick fiddled with the sword he'd brought with him, and Astrid gripped the handle of her axe. Toothless had no weapon, but he adjusted the strap of the pack on his back nervously.
They'd scouted out a spot on the port side of the ship, metal rungs built into the ship's side. Ru swam as quietly as he could to this spot, and bobbed in the waves alongside it.
"Alright," he said, and it was the most nervous Astrid had ever heard him, "It's up to you from here. I can sense great heat in the ship – it'll be crawling with life. Of what kinds, I cannot say. Swift skies, and best of luck," he said, raising his head so Astrid could grab a rung and swing off of his back. Toothless followed, and Stoick last. Ru swam away and hoisted himself back into the sky, where he could watch the rescue attempt unfold from above.
Watching was so much harder, he thought.
Hiccup half fell, half slid into the cell, tumbling over himself on the hard metal floor. All around he heard rustling, scratching, growling, and the clinking of chains. He wondered if Lech kept all of his cargo muzzled.
"Please don't eat me!" Hiccup pleaded just in case, arms thrown around his head protectively. Suddenly, the chains and the claws paused, and Hiccup peered up over his arms. "P-please, I mean you no harm." He looked up around himself. The cell was completely dark, save for a small air vent in the ceiling high above, which offered minimal light. It was night, Hiccup realized, and even the moon was weak. But dragons' eyes glow slightly in the dark, and as he looked around, Hiccup realized that he was surrounded by more than a dozen pairs of curious, glowing, hungry dragon eyes. They were watching him.
"It is a redblood," hissed one,
"A redblood who talks," said another.
"It is food" growled a third, and a pair of red eyes started toward him. Hiccup scrabbled backwards, crab-like.
"Have you lost yourself?" came in a fourth voice, authoritative, "Human flesh is not for eating, go eat yourself if you must." It sliced at the offending dragon in reprimand. "They're weak and ridiculous, but they are just as intelligent as you. Perhaps more, at the moment. Get a hold of your senses.."
Hiccup couldn't actually see any of them yet, but he wanted very much to thank that last one. He struggled to stand, his metal foot clanging against the floor.
"I mean you no harm, please do not hurt me," he wished it didn't sound like he was begging, helpless as he was. "I have been brought here as a prisoner, just as you."
"Just as us?" growled the hungry one, "You are a redblood! You will never be one of us!"
"You speak in our mothertongue," said the fourth one, sounding less kind now that he was addressing Hiccup directly. "Who are you, boy?" It stepped toward him, chains clinking closer. "What are you?"
Hiccup gulped. "My name is Gicpa," he said, trying to keep his voice steady amongst all the glowing, unfriendly eyes. He suddenly remembered something Ru had called him, the day they'd met. "called Dragontongue by your messengers along the Kindelline. Friend of dragons."
"Kindelline?" said the leader in surprise. He was a wise, old voice. "You know of the Kindelline? Dragon friend, indeed." Murmurs of mixed surprise and anger sounded from all around. "And how is it, Gicpa," the dragon seemed baffled by the name, "that you have learned our sacred tongue?" There was a sharp sting of accusation in the tone. Knowing that the dragons could likely see him well-lit where he could barely make out their shadows, Hiccup blindly drew himself up in the dark to his full height. "I am a friend of many dragons," He said, "There is one dragon I call my brother. I fly with him, the two of us as one. He taught me to speak dragonese."
"Impossible," spat one dragon,
"Treason!" shouted another, scandalized by the idea.
"Silence!" said their leader. Hiccup was still trying to determine which set of eyes belonged to the voices. "I can do naught but accept your story, Gicpa, for your ability alone. But why are you here?"
"I was captured, taken hostage. The leader of this ship has ordered me to tame you, else he will kill me." A rattle of anger and nails and teeth erupted at the idea. "I cannot do this, I know full well you will never submit to me under force of will," Hiccup said hastily, blinking, eyes watering against his blindness in too-dim light. Oh, Thor, let these dragons be at least a little reasonable. "But please, at least spare me, I have no choice in being here," he said.
"Then what," the leader said very lowly, darkly, "Do you plan to do, human who is called Dragontongue? There is no escape from this place. You know you cannot tame us. Even if we spare you now, what fate do you expect to find on the other side of that door?"
Hiccup gulped, thinking. Well, it wasn't as though he'd had time to think it all through. He was trapped. He didn't have a choice. Lech had promised him death if he refused to tame them, and death if he turned them against him, and now, the dragons promised to kill him if he did try to tame them at all. He had no choice. Inexplicably, tears watered the edges of his eyes.
"I wish to make my own fate, that door be damned." Hiccup said, angry and defiant. Gods, why was he here? Why couldn't he and Ru have just gone home? Why did those barbarians have to have been right there on that beach?
Something in his tone must have impressed the dragons, because they grew silent for several heartbeats. After a moment, the leader spoke up. "So humans can pluck the strings of old magic. Fate will not bend to dragons' ways. But the spirit of the human mind is different, perhaps. Make your fate, you say." The dragon stepped closer to Hiccup, as close as his chains would allow. "And ours as well." His yellow-green eyes glowed big in the darkness. As he reached the end of his tether right in front of Hiccup, the clouds far above parted, allowing a mote of moonlight to float down into the cell. It was just enough light for Hiccup to see to whom he was speaking. When he did, his eyes bulged and his throat closed up in awe and fear. There, looming above him was the dragon's leader: a massive, fully-grown night fury. It was chained and scarred, but its eyes were wild and angry.
"So, Gicpa, called Dragontongue, where do we start?"