Chapter 4! Hope your enjoying it as much as I am! Thanks to all those who are supporting it. Just a FYI; dreaming-about-dragons has been reviewing the story, but sadly it won't let him post them. Hopefully that's fixed now. As per usual, enjoy!

Chapter Four

Matt spun around, drawing both swords and standing in a defensive position. His heart sank as he saw Savage and three other men, all armed with crossbows and pointing them right at him. Savage's face quickly sent Matt into a flashback. When he was standing in the arena at Outcast Island and was watching Savage tell Alvin that they starved Wasatch in order for it to chase him.

"I'm not entirely happy with what you've done to my crew…" Savage said with a scowl "Don't expect much mercy from me…"

"Since that was the first thing I was expecting." Matt said sarcastically, still in a defensive position.

"Well, you do have guts, I'll give you that." Savage said in an annoyed tone. Motioning towards Hiccup and the others, he said "Drop your weapons and I won't kill your friends."

Matt glanced back to where Hiccup, Heather, Snotlout, and the twins were. The cell door was open now, but it might as well be closed as they were still trapped in the ship.

Looking back at Savage, Matt just glared at him with a hate filled face. Retracting both blades, he dropped them on the floor. Pulling off Hiccup's helmet, he then dropped it next to the handles.

"That's better." Savage said, a small smile forming on his face "Since the door is already open, why don't you kindly pick up Astrid right there and walk into the cell…makes my job that much easier."

Matt's eye twitched. He wished he had a crossbow, a gun, anything that would let him end Savage's life. Slowly kneeling down next to Astrid, he gently picked her up and began to walk into the cell. Heather stared at him, unsure of what to do. Motioning her to step inside first, Matt looked down from her gaze. He was so ashamed that he failed his friends.

Walking inside, he looked at everyone that was in the cell with him. The twins were busy whispering to each other, obviously fighting each other. Snotlout was just glaring at him with an angry look. Hiccup was also staring at him, but with a more understanding face.

Resting Astrid on the ground, he heard Savage call out "Good. Now shut the door."

Matt walked to the cell door and held one of the bars. Staring at Savage for a second, he reluctantly pulled the door closed. Hearing the metal clink in the lock, Matt shook the door to show Savage that it was shut and locked.

"That's better!" Savage said with a larger smile, walking towards the cell. Grabbing the keys that were on the ground, he continued "Now…stay here for a bit. We'll be heading to a new island now that more of you are missing from Berk." Laughing, Savage turned and walked back up the ladder; all three of the men that were with him also followed with both Matt's and Hiccup's sword and the helmet.

Staring helplessly at Savage as he disappeared, Matt gripped the bars and rested his head against them. Closing his eyes, he silently dropped an F-bomb, angry with himself and the situation in general. Feeling a hand rest on his shoulder, Matt turned to see Hiccup. "I'm sorry Hiccup." Matt said looking down from Hiccup's gaze "I can't believe I let them sneak behind me like that."

"Matt." Hiccup said, making him look into his eyes "The good guys don't always win. You did what you could and you about succeeded at it!"

"That's actually making me feel worse." Matt moaned, leaning his back against the metal bars.

"It shouldn't." Hiccup quickly said. Grabbing Matt, he sat him down on a barrel. Taking a seat by him, Hiccup then asked "How did you find us?"

Not really showing any emotion, Matt just shrugged slightly and said "They found us actually. We were camped on an island after following Toothless. We saw the ship coming and snuck on board when they went to search the island. You know the rest of the story." At that, he deactivated his brace. Letting the pain from the past activities settle in slowly, he breathed a sigh of frustration.

"Toothless is ok!?" Hiccup said excitedly, his face perking up after hearing this.

Matt's head also jumped up at the thought, snapping him out of the thought the pain. "Yeah! Toothless, Stormfly, and Wasatch are still out there!" With a small smile on his face, he quietly said "Our dragons haven't been spotted! We still have a chance to get out!"

"Good!" Snotlout said angrily, leaning against the wall of the ship "I'm ready to kick Savage's butt for what he did to Hookfang. Looking at his tied down Nightmare, he said "Big mistake caging him up!"

Hiccup just nodded. Looking at Matt, he asked "Toothless is alright then? I mean the cut wasn't that deep?"

"No. It was really shallow. It'll heal all the way pretty quick actually." Heather cut in. Heather at this point was tending to Astrid, who still lay unconscious on the damp floor. Rolling up a burlap bag, she set it under Astrid's head to prop it up and then began to clean the wound with a cloth that she kept with her. "How did Savage get you guys anyways?"

Hiccup let out a long sigh. Getting off of his barrel, he sat next to Astrid and moved her hair out of her face. "We landed on an island and began to check it out. I sent the twins one way, Snotlout another, and I went through the middle of the island. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first, until I got to the other end of the island and saw a ship anchored and a small camp on the beach. As I was checking out the island I saw Snotlout carried by two men as well as Hookfang in a net."

"Hey! I never heard the guys behind me!" Snotlout interrupted "I was out cold!"

"Yeah, you're really bad at paying attention." Ruffnut said.

"But I still notice that you like me! Right princess?" Snotlout replied with a smile.

Ruffnut groaned and Tuffnut just shook his head.

"Anyways!" Hiccup said out loud, getting the conversation back "When I saw Snotlout captured, the twins attacked the camp. They didn't see me and so they just…acted on their own."

"Hey. We just wanted to…have some fun!" Tuffnut said with a mischievous grin.

"Yeah…and to try and burn Snotlout." Ruffnut added with a wider grin.

"So, after they strafed the camp, multiple Bolas were thrown at them. Barf and Belch got hit in the wing and fell out of the sky." Hiccup continued "That was when I was about to get on Toothless and try and save them."

"But?" Matt asked, trying to speed up the story

Sighing again, Hiccup began to say "Savage and another guy came out of the bushes behind us. I was hit with some Bolas, which tied my arms to my sides. I knew we were in trouble and so I locked Toothless' tail and told him to get help. I was grabbed and yanked off of him when he took off and Savage took a swipe at him. I knew he got hit because he fell to the ground and I saw a red slash on his side." Taking a second to relive what had happened, he continued "Apparently, and luckily, it wasn't a big injury; he just took off again and flew away." Looking down at Astrid, he whispered softly "And then you know the rest of the story."

Matt looked up for a second. This mission was a failure from the beginning. Now, it was a waiting game. Waiting to see when their dragons would come and attempt to save their riders. "I hope they don't try to get us now…" Matt whispered.

"Who?" Heather asked, looking up from Astrid.

"Our dragons." Matt explained "I bet Savage and his men are expecting them to attack right now."

"Would he know that we have dragons?" Heather asked.

"He knows Astrid." Hiccup answered "So he knows there's at least one dragon out there."

"Well, he's probably counting on Toothless coming as well." Matt added "So he's probably expecting two."

"Dragons are smarter than what we give them credit for." Hiccup said with a small smile "I'm willing to bet they're making a plan right now!"

At that, they felt the ship begin to move. With the waves pounding at the sides of the ship, Matt began feel himself bob up and down with the water.

"Well…the ships sailing now…" Hiccup announced sadly.

"I guess we'll find out if the dragons come to help us soon enough." Heather said, returning her attention to Astrid. Wrapping the cloth around Astrid's head, she sat up from her work and said "There. That'll stop the bleeding. She's going to wake up with a headache though."

"Thank you Heather." Hiccup said quietly. Stroking Astrid's hair, he said "She'll be grateful too."

"So…hold on." Matt began to ask, thinking of something "What's the deal with Savage? Astrid mentioned something about him disappearing?"

"Yeah, that's basically all we knew about him after Alvin reclaimed Outcast Island." Hiccup replied. Turning to Matt, he asked "By the way, how did that go for you?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Not now at least." Matt quickly said, controlling the sudden flare of anger that welled up inside of him.

Nodding, Hiccup began to explain "I didn't learn much since being in here, since that was the second time I saw him actually. All I know is that he's been actively pursuing a living elsewhere. I'm not sure what he does though, but my guess is that he solicits his services to others."

"Wait. Like a mercenary?" Matt asked quizzically.

"Or anything else. Sailors, trappers, whatever he could be. Maybe he was sent by Dagur to get us for him. I don't know." Hiccup replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well…crap…" Matt whispered "And we walked right into his hands."

"We did too!" Hiccup said quickly "Matt, none of this is your fault!"

"It doesn't matter whose fault it is" Matt retorted "We're stuck here, going somewhere we don't know, and with no idea what's going to happen!"

"So we take it as it comes…" Hiccup said solemnly "Matt, I understand that you're frustrated with yourself and with what's happening right now. But you're not helping anyone here by beating yourself up and having small rages. Calm down, take a breather, and try to get some sleep. I have a feeling we won't be getting a lot of it in the near future."

Matt stared at Hiccup who then looked back down on Astrid. He was right. He was acting very rash and it was putting everyone on edge. Even the dragons in the cell next to them seemed to be more anxious as well. "Sorry Hiccup…I didn't mean to-"

Hiccup cut Matt off with "You don't have to explain to me. It's just how you work. If you can't get past something, you keep trying until you do. You never give up!"

Heather then stood by Matt and took him by the hand. "Come on…let's try to get some sleep." She said quietly, pulling him off the barrel.

Matt was still furious that they weren't going to try and come up with a plan to escape. But, he also knew that Heather and Hiccup were right. He was going to need all the sleep he could get before even attempting an escape. Letting himself be pulled by Heather, he said "Fine…I guess we'll just wait this one out then…"

Sitting down and leaning against the wall, Heather laid her head on Matt's shoulder. Closing her eyes, she whispered "I love you Matt…"

Surprised at the comment, Matt looked down at her and smiled "I love you too Heather…more actually."

"Whatever." She replied flatly, trying to hide a smile growing on her face.

Looking up from her, Matt saw Hiccup still sitting with Astrid, looking out for her. Sighing heavily, he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. He was a lot more tired than he thought, as it wasn't even a minute before he drifted into a dreamless sleep.

Matt woke up to the loud creaking of the cell door being opened. Jolting awake, he stared at Savage who was standing with his men.

"Time to get up!" He said with an evil smile "Everyone up and at 'em!"

Matt let a cold anger burn in him, wishing he could do something to wipe the smug look off of Savage's face. Standing up, he extended his hand to help Heather up as well. He saw Hiccup tenderly helping Astrid up, who was holding her head. "Are you ok Astrid?" he asked, limping slowly up to her.

Before she could respond, Savage cut in "Talk later. Step out of the cell one at a time."

Matt glared at Savage and then to his friends. Hiccup also looked angry, probably for the same reason why Matt was.

Leading the group, Hiccup stepped out of the cell first. Two men grabbed his arms and shackled them behind his back. Heather was next. Grabbed in a similar manner, she too had her arms cuffed behind her. Matt flared up with anger, unable to do anything to help her but watch. Following her, he felt his arms grabbed, and also cuffed. Being led up the ladder, Matt had to let his eyes adjust to the bright sunlight. Noticing the sun sitting at high noon, Matt finally was able to see around him.

The ship was moored at a new island, one that made Matt gasp when he saw it. A bare island with few trees. The trees that were there, were burned and charred remains. Lightning storms were prevalent, mainly towards the center of the island. Flashbacks were coming to him. Standing on a small boat with Dagur, Matt was forced to train Death Killer here. This was the island where he was almost killed. Looking at Heather, who was also staring at him, he nodded as if to answer the question he imagined was in her head.

Guided down the ramp, the prisoners were then forced to sit in the middle of the camp that was being built. Sitting in a circle, Hiccup asked "Is this the island where-"

"I trained Death Killer?" Matt finished for him. Nodding, he said "Sure is. Nothing's really changed, even the lightning."

"Think its Wasatch?" Heather whispered, not wanting to tip off the guards.

Shrugging, Matt replied "I have no idea. If it is, he's really pissed right now. The only time I saw him bring up a lightning storm like that was when the Berserker's were attacking Berk."

Astrid at this point groaned, her eyes shut trying to mask the pain in her head. Hiccup scooted closer to her, trying to comfort her. "Hey…how are you feeling?"

"Like a Terrible Terror that flew into a stone wall…" Astrid groaned, shaking her head slightly. Looking up from where she was, she asked "So…where are we?"

Savage answered her, walking up to the group. "This is Storm Island! I officially welcome you here!"

Everyone just stared at him, not wanting to react to his cheery mood.

Shrugging, he began to give a history lesson on the island. "Storm Island got its name because of the constant lightning storms here. Anyone who lands here can't go any deeper in the island because the lightning. Because of that, no one ever tries to explore here." A serious look came over his face as he hissed "So don't expect to be found here."

"What do you want with us Savage?" Hiccup asked angrily.

"It's not what I want with you…it what someone else wants with you." Savage replied, turning to walk away "I have a customer that needs some able bodied…laborers."

Matt's head raised up in alarm. He's a slaver! He's been selling slaves to people! With this new panic that set into his head, he began to fight the chains that held him.

"You're not going to be able to do much without these!" Savage teased, holding a ring of keys in his hand "But please, keep on trying! Make's it entertaining to watch."

Matt just glared at Savage who laughed out loud. Turning he began to walk back to the ship.

Matt was about to say something to Hiccup when a murmur began to sound through the camp. Turning to see what was going on, Matt saw the men pointing to something further inland. Glancing over to where they were pointing at, he saw to his horror, lightning striking the ground. Each lightning strike got closer, heading straight for the camp.

"Look out!" Hiccup shouted, unable to really do anything to hide from the oncoming lightning. Just before it hit the camp, dozens of smaller lightning bolts struck at the camp; all around the circle of prisoners. Before Matt could respond, a layer of thick black smoke covered them. Unable to see anything, he felt himself jolted into the air. His vision instantly clear, he saw that Wasatch had grabbed him and was flying him away from the camp. "Wasatch! You the dragon!" he shouted out of excitement. They now had a fighting chance.

"Toothless! You're ok!" Hiccup's voice sounded to the right of Matt. Turning to see where Hiccup's voice sounded, he saw him being carried by Toothless and flying alongside of Wasatch. Astrid was also carried by Stormfly to the right of Hiccup.

Landing behind a hill, the three were dropped and the dragons landed softly next to them.

"Oh it's so good to see you girl!" Astrid said, leaning against her dragon as if to try and hug her.

Matt and Hiccup were busy hitting the shackles on their hands against a boulder, desperate to get out of them.

"Toothless!" Hiccup said quickly, giving up and trying bash them open "Try and bite them off!"

Matt turned to watch the attempt, only to see Snatch on the ground looking up at him. In his mouth were the metal keys that Savage was holding! "Snatch you sneaky devil you!" Matt said with a wide smile. Kneeling down Matt picked up the keys in his hands and limped over towards Hiccup. "Hiccup get over here!" he shouted.

Hiccup quickly ran to him, which he turned around and quickly raised his arms so that they were easier to access. Matt fumbled with the keys as he tried to fit them into the hole of the shackles. After a few failed attempts, Matt finally released the shackles and let them drop to the ground. Hiccup whirled around and grabbed the keys. Releasing both Matt and Astrid, he jumped onto Toothless. "Alright, we all make runs and grab the rest of the group." He said, turning see both Matt and Astrid jump on their dragons.

"Uh…Hiccup." Matt said "I have another idea."

"Matt!" Hiccup shouted "This is not a good time to be argumentative!"

"I know! But you two get the rest of the guys, I'm going to get the dragons!" Matt threw in "They're still in the ship!" Activating his brace, he then added "Plus they can help us finish this!" At that, he released the bags that were still tied to Wasatch, letting them land on the ground.

Hiccup thought for a second, then said "Fine! But be careful! We can't risk anyone else being caught again!"

Matt launched into the air, letting Wasatch roar out of anger. "Alright boy, light up their world one more time!"

Wasatch roared and radiated with lightning. Flying towards the camp, Matt saw multiple Bolas fly towards him. Lifting his foot up and to the left, he guided Wasatch into a roll; dodging the Bolas. Wasatch then let loose of his electricity and shot multiple lightning bolts at the camp. Striking around the circle of prisoners; the rest of the slavers dove out of the way, trying to dodge the lightning strikes.

Hiccup and Astrid then strafed the camp, picking up both the twins. Matt let Wasatch keep firing lightning bolts, guiding him towards the ship. Flying over the ship, Matt jumped off and landed on the deck. The inertia of jumping off of Wasatch caused him to roll on the deck. Letting the pain settle in his leg, Matt pushed himself up. Ignoring the pain that kept on running up and down in his leg, Matt ran into the cabin of the ship. Running inside, he saw the closet door he opened last night. Getting close to it, he noticed the hinges were still broken from the last time he broke into it. Smiling, he pulled the door down and let it crash onto the floor. Grabbing Hiccup's helmet, he slid it on and grabbed both swords.

Bolting out of the cabin, Matt saw Wasatch again unleash a fury of lightning into the camp. "Keep it up Wasatch!" He shouted, climbing down the ladder to where Hookfang and Barf and Belch were. Finally reaching the bottom, Matt turned to see the dragons eyeing him anxiously and fighting the ropes that held them down. "Hold on guys…I got you!" Matt said loudly, running to the door. Trying to open the door, Matt realized that Hiccup had the keys. Looking around frantically, he finally just extended his blade and began to reach at the ropes tying Barf's head down. Feeling the tip of his sword catch the rope, he lifted the blade up. Feeling the rope give away to the sword, Matt saw Barf raise his head and began fill the hold with gas. Matt instantly ran to the ladder and began to climb out of the hold, knowing what was going to happen. Belch then shot a spark out of a small crack in his mouth.

The explosion rocked Matt's world. Being blown off the ladder, his ears rang at the sound of the explosion; Hiccup's helmet that he was wearing was also blown off of him. Feeling debris land crash on top of his body, Matt panicked when he couldn't move. Letting the smoke clear out, Matt saw that a beam had crashed on his good leg and pinned him to the ground. The explosion had burned the ropes off the dragons, letting them out. It had also blown a hole out of the side of the ship and, by consequence, allowing water to pour in.

"Thanks a lot guys!" Matt shouted at the dragons as they flew out of the hole. Grunting, he tried to move the beam off his leg. Only budging it slightly, Matt was forced to stop as it was being pushed across his leg. Feeling water soak his free leg, Matt started to panic. The ship was also starting to roll as the water began to fill it. Looking through the hole, Matt saw Wasatch fly across the opening. "Wasatch!" Matt yelled, trying to catch his dragon's attention. Staring at the hole, he did see Wasatch again, but was carrying Heather away. "Well…I guess that's a good reason to not hear me." Matt muttered. Feeling the water at his waist, Matt frantically looked for anything to help him get out.

"Well, I should have expected this would have happened to you." A voice called from above.

Looking back up, Matt breathed a sigh of relief. Hiccup was lowering himself down the massive hole. Landing in the water. Hiccup grabbed one end of the beam and began to lift it. Feeling the beam lift enough for him to move, Matt pulled his leg out and stood up from the water.

"Thanks Hiccup. Almost a clean get-away." Matt said, breathing heavily.

Dropping the beam in the water and letting it splash both of them, Hiccup replied breathlessly "When I saw the dragons come out of the explosion, I was half expecting to find you to be a pile of ash; not about to drown!"

"Yeah, I wasn't quite ready for them to blow the place up." Matt said, making sure his leg was ok.

"Come on! We got everyone out of the camp!" Hiccup said, running through the water. Picking up a crate and setting it under the ledge of the hole, he motioned Matt to follow him.

Running to Hiccup, Matt picked up his helmet that landed on the floor and handed it to him. Smiling he said "I think this is yours." After Hiccup took it, he then handed the sword to him as well "As does this!"

Hiccup shook his head with a smile "I knew you had a second motive!" Sliding the helmet on, he jumped on the crate and hoisted himself up to the deck. Matt followed. Grabbing the edge of the deck, he pulled himself up. Resting his stomach on the edge, he rolled the rest of his body onto the deck. Looking up, he saw Toothless anxiously waiting for them. Hiccup was already climbing on Toothless, locking his leg in place. Just as Matt began to seat himself on Toothless, Savage's voice shouted behind them.

"Get them boys!" Savage shouted "Don't let them get away!"

Toothless whirled around and fired a plasma blast at the group running up the twisted ramp. Blowing them away, Toothless then launched into the air. Matt was feeling the rush of the wind until he felt Toothless dive straight towards the ground.

"Pull up Hiccup!" Matt shouted, trying to find something to grip.

"I am! Hold on!" Hiccup yelled back, getting lower on the saddle.

Matt felt Toothless hit the ground, sending both him and Hiccup rolling away. Finally stopping, Matt looked up to see Toothless stand back up and turn to face the rushing slavers. "What happened!?" Matt shouted, drawing his sword out and letting sparks radiate from his blade.

"I don't know! We were fine until I went to pull up!" Hiccup replied, also drawing his sword and standing next to Matt. Glancing at Toothless, Hiccup then yelled "Oh perfect! His tail is slashed! The fabric's torn to shreds!"

Matt was about to counter a charge from a slaver, only to see him get hit with a lightning bolt. Turning around, he saw Wasatch land next to him, urging him to get on. Jumping on the angry Skrill and strapping himself in, Matt shouted "Ride him out of here! We can't stay here anymore!"

Already on the idea before Matt suggested it, Hiccup jumped on Toothless and began to ride him away from the battle. Matt launched Wasatch in the air and let him unleash a fury of lightning on their pursuers. Satisfied that they were turned around and running away, he guided Wasatch to follow Hiccup.

Arriving at where everyone was, Matt unstrapped himself and jumped down. Running to Heather, who was just released from her shackles, he grabbed her in a hug and said "I'm so glad you're ok!"

Smiling, Heather squeezed Matt back, saying "I should be the one happy you're ok! When I saw the explosion go off, I was sure you were hurt. Well, more hurt than you are." At that, she tenderly rubbed her hand on his cheek, revealing blood on it.

Looking at her hand, Matt gave a small smile and said "Must have been the debris. I didn't feel a thing other than the heat from the explosion."

"And the beam that landed on you." Hiccup threw in, walking to Astrid and pulling her in a hug.

Heather stared at Matt, who just whispered "I'll tell you later." Hugging her, he didn't show signs of letting go.

Astrid was busy being held by Hiccup as well, grateful that they were able to finally see each other free and alive. "Hiccup…you really need to work on your expeditions. There isn't a time when you leave that something bad happens." She whispered, resting her head in his chest.

Chuckling, Hiccup said "I might have too. It's really starting to get old."

After a few moments of finally being able to be with each other, Hiccup pulled away and went to inspect Toothless' tail. Rubbing the remnants of the fabric, Hiccup sighed and said "So…We're not leaving this island without getting a new tail for Toothless. There's nothing left to use for anything!"

Astrid knelt down and also inspected the tail. She then said "Wait…Eret was supposed to be behind us! He shouldn't be too far now!"

Hiccup's face brightened up at this, to which he asked "So what did you leave for him to track?"

Astrid's face suddenly fell, realizing that there was nothing for them to track. Shaking her head, she said "We…we didn't leave anything!"

Matt then spoke up "Hiccup. What if we send everyone to find Eret? While they go get him, you and I can play hide and seek with these 'slavers'. That way we can try and land a few more hits on them and still be able to evade them."

"Now wait just a second." Astrid said standing up "Why are you sending all of us except you Matt?"

Squaring up to Astrid, he explained "Let's recount the recent past Astrid. We were captured when we tried to bust Hiccup and the others out, and we were almost killed when the dragon's attacked their camp."

"Actually, you were the only one that was almost killed" Heather cut in, standing next to Astrid.

"Not the point!" Matt said angrily, looking at Heather "The point is, whenever we have big group, we tend to be a bigger target!"

"And where ever you go, you always end up either burned, shocked, cut, or drowned." Astrid yelled, motioning to Matt's wet armor. Turning to Hiccup, she looked at him in the eye saying "I'm staying with you until we get Toothless off this island. No debate!"

"I'm staying too!" Heather said, walking up to Matt "I'm sick of being treated like I'm helpless. I want to help!"

"Heather!" Matt began to argue, anger all over his face.

"Stop." Heather warned, glaring at Matt "The only reason why Wasatch was able to grab you was because Snatch covered all of us in smoke! Face it Matt, you need us if you need a get-away plan!" Right on cue, Snatch flew and landed on her shoulder, looking at Matt in the eye.

Before Matt could retaliate, Hiccup cut in "Stop! Everyone stop!" Glaring at Matt, he continued to say "I'm in charge. I make the decisions. Got it?"

Matt nodded, realizing that he stepped outside his bounds.

"Here's the plan." Hiccup said, looking at everyone. "Since Astrid and Heather are committed on staying, I'm sending Snotlout and the twins to go find Eret and bring him here."

Matt bit his tongue. This was not what he wanted.

"Astrid, Heather, Matt, and I will stay. Even though I'm half tempted to send Matt." Hiccup said glaring at him.

Shocked, Matt yelled "What? Why!?"

"Because you were almost killed again!" Hiccup replied loudly "But not just that, you keep trying to tell Astrid and Heather what to do, and frankly, you've been having a hot head lately. We don't need that; especially now!"

Matt stared at Hiccup in disbelief. Everything seemed to be backfiring on him.

Fuming for a second, Hiccup then added "But I won't. I know you'll be a mess if I send you away. And frankly, I do need you here with me."

Matt just nodded, silenced after Hiccup laid into him. Was he really acting that bad? Looking at Heather and Astrid, he thought "Why not send them away to make sure they'll be safe?"

Turning to the twins and Snotlout, Hiccup asked "Can you guys do that?"

"Don't worry about us." Snotlout said in a strangely serious manner "We'll be back before you even realize we're gone."

The twins also nodded, agreeing with Snotlout; which took a lot for Ruffnut to do.

"Get going then. We're going to move as well, I don't want them to sneak up on us." Hiccup said, walking over to Toothless. Sitting on his saddle, he tossed his helmet to Snotlout and said "Use this so Skullcrusher can track us. Good luck guys!"

"Be right back!" Tuffnut shouted "Let's go Belch!"

The Zippleback immediately took off, with Hookfang following closely by.

Staring at the two dragons, Hiccup then said "Let's get moving. I want to put as much distance between us and Savage as we can."

Nodding, Astrid climbed onto Stormfly. Heather began to walk towards Wasatch to get on with Matt who was strapping himself in. Looking at him in the eye, she smiled at him, excited to be able to finally travel with him. Matt just stared at her and then made Wasatch begin to walk away, leaving her behind. Shocked, Heather was about to call him out when Hiccup stopped her.

"He's probably thinking of what I said. Just let him cool off and have some time to himself." He said quietly, motioning her to get on behind him "He'll be normal in an hour or so."

Heather just stared at Matt as Wasatch led the group, unsure of what was really bugging him.