Well, here's chapter 7. I thought I'd post it now since I have a final test every day for the next week. I won't have time to post this or update until after. Anyways, have a great weekend and enjoy!

Chapter Seven

"Time to wake up mule!" A voice called out.

Matt instantly felt water dumped on him. Gasping for breath, Matt coughed as he tried to inhale air. Looking up, he saw two Slavers standing over him. "Thanks for the drink…been awhile since I've had some water…" Matt said sarcastically.

"Shut up and stand up." One of the Slavers said, lifting the chains that held Matt's hands above him.

Being hoisted up, Matt stood up on his feet. Relief flooded his leg, finally being able to bend it a little. With his hands now lower, Matt quickly deactivated his brace.

"What was that!?" a Slaver shouted, drawing his knife as if Matt was going to attack.

"Just deactivating my brace." Matt said angrily "Trust me, if I had anything that would have helped me escape I would have done so."

The other Slaver then sucker punched Matt in the stomach, causing Wasatch to roar angrily and struggle in the net. "I said shut up! Say another word and I'll cut your tongue out!"

Matt glared at the Slaver, ticked off with the threat and the fact that he was completely at the mercy of ruthless killers. Nodding in acknowledgement, Matt just stood there as the second Slaver with the knife, began to walk towards him.

Staring helplessly at the approaching Slaver, Matt instinctively moved his head away; as a last ditch effort to get away from the knife.

Smiling at his discomfort, the Slaver then used the knife and cut a strap on Matt's armor.

Feeling his riding gear loosen, he looked down to see another strap cut. Realizing that they were taking his gear off, Matt just stared helplessly as they continued to cut and slash away. Basically in pieces, it didn't take much effort for the Slavers to pull the armor off of him. Ripping his shirt off, one of the Slavers moaned when he saw Matt's back. "Go get Savage…He'll want to see this kid's back." He said turning to the other Slaver.

Matt watched as the Slaver jogged away. Turning to the one that was still there, he asked "Can I talk now? Or at least ask one question?"

Grunting, the Slaver said "Go ahead."

"What's the big deal with my back?" Matt asked curiously "Why does it concern Savage."

"You asked two questions." The Slaver said shortly, annoyed by Matt's curiosity "I guess you have a few more too."

Flaring up with anger, Matt then said loudly "Well, to be fair. I've been captured by a group of slavers that I never heard of, my dragon's hanging in a net next to me, I've been stripped half naked, and now I have to be inspected. Yes. I have a LOT of questions running through my head right now!"

Pulling out his knife again, the Slaver grabbed Matt's jaw and shouted "I said you could ask a question, not run your mouth like you have a right animal!" Holding the knife near Matt's lips, he whispered coldly "You're going to wish that you hadn't done that."

Wasatch was roaring, fighting the net as he watched his trainer being held by the Slaver. Matt stared into the dark eyes of the Slaver, trying to hide the fear that creeping through his body. Feeling his mouth be forced open, Matt was ironically grateful to hear Savage's voice shout: "Yaruk! I told you to strip the prisoner! Not torture him!"

The Slaver instantly let Matt go, turning towards Savage and a few other Slavers who were marching up towards them. "Just teaching this brat a lesson."

"That's not our job!" Savage said, bringing the butt end of his spear across Yaruk's face "We just collect and deliver. Because of this, you're never to touch another slave again, got it!?"

Yaruk just stared at Savage with anger in his eyes. Resting his hand on his face where Savage struck him, he just nodded and began to walk away.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Matt was then spun around by Savage to where he was facing the pole.

"Thor's hammer…" Savage muttered. Staring at Matt's back, he then asked "What happened here? This is going to lose me at least 30 gold!"

"Sorry to disappoint." Matt said again with thick sarcasm. Putting the clues together, he then said "I'm guessing that's why you have to inspect my back. To see how much money you're going to lose?"

"If I was selling you to anyone else, it wouldn't have mattered." Savage said with no emotion, rubbing his hand down Matt's back to feel the scars. Matt cringed as his hand went up and down, still unable to do anything to protect himself.

"But with this specific customer…" Savage continued, finally pulling his hand away "He only wants healthy slaves. Both in appearance and performance." Spinning Matt around again, he gently rubbed Matt's cheek and added "Your bruised face will heal, at least that won't affect the price."

Rolling his eyes, Matt just said "Thanks. Makes me feel a whole lot better." Pulling away from Savage, he added "Sounds like a classy guy if he only wants the best." Then something came to his mind. Looking at Savage in the eye, he then said "Wait a second…you don't know anything about me…"

"And?" Savage said, getting a concerned look on his face "I never needed to know about anyone I've sold."

"My leg." Matt said with a small smile growing on his face; the first since he was captured "You don't know about it do you…"

"Should I?" Savage said impatiently, trying to hurry whatever Matt was talking about.

"My leg is crippled!" Matt said with a small laugh "I have to use a brace whenever I want to run or ride with no pain!"

Glancing at the leg, Savage silently cursed. Grabbing the keys out of the pouch that he carried, he started to unlock the shackles. "Try to run, and your dragon's good as dead." Savage threatened. Almost instantly, two of the Slavers with them pointed their crossbows at the still roaring Skrill.

Feeling the shackles fall off his wrists, Matt began to rub them to bring back the blood flow. "Could have at least said please." Matt said, glaring at Savage.

Taking a few steps backwards, Savage then ordered "Start walking towards me." Then with an evil smile, added "Please."

Frowning, Matt took a step towards Savage. Not really feeling anything, Matt took a few more. Feeling the sharp pain run up and down his leg, Matt grimaced as he quickly grabbed his leg as if to stop the pain from flowing up any higher. Glaring up at Savage, he said "See!?"

Savage didn't say anything. Looking at his leg, he asked "What did you do to fix it? I saw you sprint when you sank my ship."

Matt glanced over to the ocean and for the first time noticed Savage's ship. Charred from the explosion, it was rolled over on its side and sunk in the shallow water. Smiling, Matt joked "Did I do that!?"

Savage rammed the butt end of his spear into Matt's stomach. "I wouldn't joke much more; before I let Yaruk finish what he was going to do." He said with a cold anger.

Matt coupled over in pain. Collapsing on the ground, he could hear Wasatch thrashing around in his net. Gasping, he said "You sure that's a good idea? You'll lose more money on me."

Savage ignored Matt. Looking at his men he said "Keep the boy by his pet. I don't want any more of my men fried." Savage said, staring at the raging Skrill.

Matt felt himself grabbed and pulled over by Wasatch. Dropped on the ground, he took a few deep breaths and began to stand back up.

"Now…how did you run with your leg?" Savage asked with a serious tone.

"With this." Matt said with heat in his voice. Pulling on the small lever on his lower half armor, he felt the brace stiffen his entire leg. "While this is on, I can run, jump, or ride a lot easier. It doesn't stop all the pain, but it still helps."

"Good. We'll have you keep that then." Savage breathed. Looking grateful that at least one good thing was happening, he turned to the Slavers that were next to him and said "Bind him and take him away from his dragon. I changed my mind about it. We'll let it exhaust itself and then we'll beat it into submission for Dagur. We'll get some more gold out of it at least…"

"No!" Matt shouted, feeling his arms grabbed. Trying to fight the two slavers that were holding his arms, he felt himself forced onto his knees. Struggling against the two, he could hear Wasatch roaring a thrashing around. Unable to turn around to look at his friend, he felt himself dragged away. Forced onto his chest, his arms were then pulled behind him and were being tied. "I'll kill you if you try to touch him!" he shouted, trying to keep his face out of the dirt.

"I'm sure you will." Savage replied, unfazed by the threat "Since your friends failed to get you last night."

Matt's head snapped up, as best as he could. Feeling himself pulled back up onto his knees, he just stared at Savage with a worried expression.

Laughing at Matt, Savage explained "My men told me that they were trying to get an outfit to sneak into our camp. When Hiccup and the two girls went to get one of the outfits from the arena, my men ambushed them."

Matt's face sank when he heard this, expecting to see them marched up towards him.

Seeing Matt's expression, Savage added "Don't worry, we weren't able to catch them or their dragons; but we were able to split them up!" At that, Savage turned and began to walk away "I don't think they'll be able to get you back now. Such a tragedy…"

Staring at nothing, Matt was then stood up and forced to walk towards the shore; leaving Wasatch to rage in his net.

"This is bad…" Hiccup said, looking through a telescope at the camp "They just led Matt away from Wasatch and towards the shore…"

All three of them were laying on top of a hill, about a half mile away. Their dragons were below them, hiding. Astrid was standing with them to keep them calm, and being unable to lie down with Hiccup and Heather because of her arm. With the sun barely peering over the ocean, they were barely visible at that distance.

"Wait…they're not going to kill him are they!?" Heather asked in a worried voice.

"I don't think so…" Hiccup said, looking up from the telescope "If Savage is a slaver, then he won't want to kill his…trade" Hiccup was careful with the word he was going to choose.

Heather just stared at the camp, unable to really see what was happening. "Did he look like he was alright?"

"He looks fine." Hiccup lied, putting the telescope away "He's probably going to be feeling a little sore from the hit he took, but he'll be fine." He lied to her so that she wouldn't worry about Matt. Having witnessed what happened to Matt, from being stripped, to being punched in the stomach multiple times, and then being inspected; Hiccup knew that Matt wasn't going to be looking all that well.

Heather's face relaxed when she heard the lie. Looking back at the camp, she could only think of what was going through Matt's head.

Feeling something pull at her leg, she turned to see Astrid kneeling down next to them. "I hate to break up the conversation, but we need to start with the plan right now!" she said, staring at both Hiccup and Heather

"Why? Anxious to fly?" Hiccup said with a smile.

"That's not the reason!" Astrid said with a little heat in her voice. Pointing to the ocean, she then added "We have a time limit now!"

Both Hiccup and Heather stared at where Astrid was pointing to. Staring at the ocean, Hiccup then said "Oh…well…I guess we better get going then!"

In the ocean was a massive ship with a red sail, heading towards the island.

Heather quickly ran to Valkyrie, who was more than ready to let her new rider on. Sitting on Valkyrie's neck, she gripped the spikes to hold herself on. "I'm ready when you are!"

"Alright…I'll be right behind you." Astrid said, slowly getting on her saddle. Feeling someone help her climb on, she turned to see Hiccup standing next to Stormfly.

"Be careful Astrid…just wait until the distraction is pulling all their attention." Hiccup said, resting his hand on Astrid's leg.

"Don't worry Hiccup." Astrid said smiling "It all depends on what kind of distraction you give us."

Smiling, Hiccup said "You'll know it when you see it."

At that, Astrid launched into the air with Heather following. The Skrill easily caught up to the Deadly Nadder and with that, they began to fly higher and higher into the morning sky.

Hiccup and Toothless then crawled back up to the top of the hill. Laying down, Hiccup saw that the ship already landed. Looking at Toothless, he asked "You ready bud?"

Toothless just growled as he looked at Hiccup. A small smile seemed to grow on the Night Fury's face.

"Good…let's give these guys a wake up call they'll never forget…" Hiccup said, staring at the camp.

Matt was once again forced on his knees. Looking out at the ocean, he saw the ship drop its anchor. The men on the deck were scrambling to lower a boat with three people in it.

"Well…that's quite timely." Savage said with a smile "Looks like your new owner's anxious to get someone new."

"Great…" Matt groaned, completely defeated. Learning that his friends were split up and missing, he knew that rescue wasn't going to happen. He felt empty; terrified of his future.

"Come now, smile a little!" Savage said, teasing Matt "He's actually the one you should want to be owned by."

Matt just stared at the ground, completely numb to all sensations. He could hear Wasatch roar in the distance, making him even more sick to his stomach. Time seemed to pass with the speed of an arrow being shot into the air because as soon as Matt saw the three people being lowered, he heard them beaching their boat on the shore.

"Savage." A voice called out. It was gruff and deep. "What happened to your ship?"

"Ah…well." Savage began to say. Looking at Matt with an angry look, he explained "This monster was the cause of it. I had a lot more slaves and dragons on board, but he freed them." Gesturing to the ship, he added "All that destruction was because of him, and now he's the only one that I have."

"Well…I can give you and your men ride back to my land to get a new ship. But first! Business at hand." The voice replied.

Matt finally looked up, staring at the stranger. Wearing a decorated metal chest, engraved with gold, was a medium sized man with a short beard walking towards him. He was wearing a classic looking Viking helmet with a long black cape. He carried a long sword that was strapped to his waist. He looked like a leader. A wealthy one.

Kneeling down in front of Matt, the stranger asked "I hope these bruises aren't permanent?"

"No they're not." Savage replied "They should be gone within the week. However…there are two flaws with this particular individual."

"So why are you trying to sell him to me?" The stranger asked, looking up from Matt "You know my standards."

"Because he's the only one I got right now!" Savage said angrily "It's either him or no one."

"You said he released other prisoners you had." The stranger said, not taking his eyes off Savage "Have they gotten off this island?"

"Er…well…" Savage stammered "No, I think they're on the island still. But they're proving to be…elusive."

"I'll have my men help you then." The stranger said standing up "But for half the price of what they would normally be."

"Well…you see, they're being elusive due to the fact that-" Savage began to say, but was interrupted by a sudden lightning strike in the center of the camp. Looking at where the lightning struck, he saw Wasatch radiate lightning and trying to arc it at some Slavers.

"What is that!?" The stranger asked, staring at the netted dragon.

"That's my Skrill." Matt replied angrily "My dragon."

"You have a dragon…" the stranger asked softly.

"And my friends have theirs too!" Matt followed up with. Standing straight up on his knees, he then threatened "They'll blow your ship to pieces if you try to leave with me!"

The stranger looked down at Matt with an impressed look. "I've only had one slave make a threat to me…he died shortly after he failed to live up to it." Kneeling down in front of Matt again, he then said "But you have actions behind your words. Your dragon…Savage's ship…I like that."

Savage rammed his spear butt into Matt's chest, causing him to fall violently backwards. "Sorry! I've had to hit him a few times whenever he spoke out of line." Looking at Matt who was gasping for breath, he added "As far as his so-called friends go, my men scattered them. They won't be able to attack or anything."

"Savage." The stranger said calmly "I'll punish him when I feel I need to. Understand?"

Savage just stared at the stranger, not saying anything. Nodding, he took a step back from him.

Looking back at Matt, who was struggling to get up, the stranger asked "How many of your friends are here?"

"Would you like to know…" Matt said, breathing heavily. Finally able to at least sit up, Matt stared at the stranger and said "I will say that one of them rides a Night Fury."

"A WHAT!?" The stranger said in shock. Turning to Savage, he asked loudly "Who in the god's names did you capture!?"

"Does it matter?" Savage asked angrily, seeing that the deal was going south "I have a slave for you."

"At what cost?" The stranger asked, glaring at Savage "and I'm not talking about the gold."

"Listen! I have someone I'm willing to sell right here, right now." Savage said loudly.

"The way I see it…" The stranger said darkly "You need to get off this rock. Since you only have one prisoner, and not a very healthy one at that, I'll take him as payment to bring you to my land."

"What!?" Savage said in shock. Realizing that he was on a losing battle, he shook the news away and said "How about this. If we can't get you the other prisoners by tomorrow morning, then I'll agree to letting you have him for a ride to your island. For now, at least inspect the kid to make sure he's someone you want."

The stranger pondered the proposal. Stroking his beard, he said "Fine…by tomorrow at noon. Are you sure the escapee's won't attack? Or attempt to free this young spitfire."

Matt took the spitfire as a compliment. He was really trying to make their lives miserable; and it was working.

"Of course. And even if they do, it'll more than likely be just one of them. And probably later tonight." Savage replied, confident in his answer.

"Get your men ready to go search for them." The stranger said to Savage. Looking down at Matt he then said "My men will stay here to defend the camp while I inspect the prisoner."

Savage didn't say anything. Staring at Matt with anger on his face, he turned and briskly walked towards the center of the camp. Giving orders to his men, he made sure that he stayed away from the Skrill that was covered in lightning.

Matt then felt himself picked up. Standing on his feet, he saw that the stranger was staring at his back.

"Nasty scars you have back here…" he said softly, tenderly running his hand across the rough texture of Matt's back "Mind telling me how you got them? And your name?"

"A dragon." Matt said simply, looking forward at the ocean; trying his hardest to ignore the hand. "A friend was in trouble, so I made sure she wasn't." Breathing loudly, he added "And my name is Matt, what's yours?"

"Matt? An interesting name…Never heard of it before…" The stranger observed "So, you helped your friend who was a girl then…" the stranger quietly said, finally taking his hand off Matt's back "Someone special?"

"Why do you care? You're just going to rip me away from the life I had." Matt shot back, watching the stranger stand in front of him "And you never told me your name!"

"And I won't until we're sailing back home; and I also don't care if it is someone special." The stranger replied with a smile. Grabbing Matt's jaw, he began to check inside his mouth as well as assess the bruises "Just trying to find out how I can break your wild spirit."

Feeling disgusted that he was being treated like a farm animal at an auction, Matt pulled away from the hand that gripped him. Getting free, he then said "If you're going to check me out like a yak, then maybe you should know about my leg."

"Oh…what is it?" The stranger asked with a chuckle, looking as if he was proud of Matt.

Creeped out at the expression, Matt quickly said "I'm a gimp. A cripple. I can barely run let alone work without a special brace."

Nodding, the stranger then said "Well…I guess you're going to be the only exception I'll ever have."

"Why?" Matt said, trying to hide the panic in his voice. He's been trying to bring up every flaw with himself that he could, but it seemed to be selling him more and more.

"You'll be the first person I bought with ambition; a fighter." The stranger said, slightly pushing Matt backwards and watching his leg.

Stumbling backwards, he then muttered "The brace is active." Then in a louder voice asked "Why do you want a fighter as a slave? That's usually a bad thing."

"Well…to be honest, I don't want a fighter." The stranger admitted, smiling at Matt "I have my personal reasons at why I'm so interested in you. Yes, I know it looks like I'm buying you as a slave; but in reality, I'm bringing home a friend. Please notice that I have not once referred to you as a 'slave' since I arrived here." Laughing he added "All my…merchandise…consider me their friend because I treat them like partners. When they arrive to my land, they get a farm, a small house, a few animals; and they give me loyalty in turn for what I give them."

"Well…there's nothing you can offer me." Matt said somberly "Trust me when I say I've been to places and done things that aren't even part of this world. I even left a life behind to be where I am."

"I realize that you'll be a special challenge Matt. Not only when I take you away from your island and lifestyle, but keeping you with me." The stranger said, taking a step back from Matt "If your friends ride dragons such as yourself…well, it'll be only a matter of ti-"

Suddenly a blue explosion went off at the edge of the camp, demolishing a few tents. Recovering from the sound of the explosion, the stranger then shouted "What in Thor's name!?"

"Well...that couldn't have been timed better." Matt said with a smile "I guess my friends can still attack whenever they want!"

Another explosion went off. The plasma blasts were coming from a far hill, almost as if it was artillery bombarding a target. With that and Wasatch arcing lightning randomly, it seemed like the organized camp was now a chaotic pandemonium.

"Birkir, Hroki, help me load Matt into the boat! We'll keep him on our ship so that his friend's don't destroy it!" The stranger ordered, grabbing Matt's arm.

Realizing what they were going to do, Matt instantly recoiled back to fight the grip that the stranger had on him. Seeing one of his guards reach for him, Matt lifted his bad leg and kicked the guard in the groin. Feeling pain shoot through the leg, Matt watched the guard crumple to the ground whimpering.

Feeling himself grabbed in a big bear hug, Matt tried to fight back. With his arms still tied behind him, all he could do was wildly kick at the stranger who was holding him.

The second guard then ran and grabbed Matt's legs, starting to wrap a coil of rope around them. Trying to kick the rope off, Matt saw the guard take a lightning bolt to the face. Watching in the surprise, he heard the stranger yell "Birkir!"

Smiling, Matt turned his head, expecting to see Wasatch. Even though he saw Wasatch, he was confused to see that his dragon was still in the net and only arcing lightning bolts at short distances. Trying to piece together what happened, Matt heard the stranger scream "What the!?"

Before he could look to see what made the stranger yell, Matt felt himself jerked out of his captor's grasp. Looking up, he saw that a Skrill had grabbed him! "Oh not good!" Matt shouted, realizing that he could be taken literately anywhere.

Looking back down at the camp, Matt saw something that made him gasp. Astrid and Stormfly were flying low to the ground, skimming past tents. Flying directly to where Wasatch was, Stormfly let out a single spike at the rope that held Wasatch suspended. Cutting the rope, Stormfly picked the net off of Wasatch and then started to fly straight up into the air to dodge any bolas thrown.

Wasatch immediately went into a rage. Launching himself in the air, he let out a fury of lightning bolts into the camp; striking at about anything and everything.

All the slavers could only dive into cover, unable to even try to take a shot at the furious Skrill.

Making sure that he did the damage that he wanted, Wasatch then flew to chase after Matt, still being carried away by the unknown Skrill.

Relaxing slightly that Wasatch was free, Matt returned his attention to the Skrill that was flying farther away from the camp "Hey! Let me go you stupid dragon!" Struggling, he couldn't really even move while being held by his shoulders and his arms still tied up.

"That's not really nice to say to the dragon saving your life." A voice sounded.

Looking around in confusion, Matt slowly said "Heather?"

Looking down from the left side of the dragon, Heather smiled at Matt whose eyes were as wide as chicken eggs. "The one and only!" she shouted, laughing at his facial expression.

"Wh-How are you on a Skrill!?" Matt shouted in confusion, unable to even grasp that he was actually talking the Heather.

"She trained it out of necessity, kind of like you!" Astrid's voice called out.

Looking to where he heard her voice, Matt saw Astrid coasting Stormfly next to Heather. "I am so confused right now!" He said out loud, shaking his head.

"Well, snap out of it!" Astrid shouted "We only have a few minutes to get you ready to fly! Hiccup's already running from the Slavers and we need to meet up with him to regroup!"

Still shaking his head, he then began to ask Heather "How did you train a Skrill!?"

"Matt! Now's really not a good time for questions!" Astrid quickly cut in. Guiding Stormfly to land, she motioned Heather to do the same.

Matt was gently dropped on the ground. With the coil of rope still around his legs, and his arms still behind his back, he could only flop onto the ground. Rolling with the inertia, he finally stopped. Trying to sit up, Matt closed his eyes in pain as he shifted his leg. From sleeping with the brace on all night, to being beat up all morning, and then being dropped by a dragon; Matt's pain tolerance was reaching its limit. Feeling himself tenderly picked up, Matt opened his eyes to see both Astrid and Heather. After standing him up, Heather knelt down to untie the ropes at his ankles while Astrid drew a dagger with her good arm and cut his hands free.

"Matt!" Heather said with relief in her voice, grabbing Matt in a hug "Thank the Gods…"

"I'm fine Heather. At least now I am…" Matt said, relishing in the moment that he was freed and was holding Heather. Even though a thousand questions were running through his head, he took the few seconds he had with Heather and held her.

Pulling away from Matt, Heather looked at the bruises on his face as well as those that were growing on his chest from the hits he took. "What did they do to you?" she asked, tenderly rubbing the bruise on his cheek.

"Let's just say they tried to discipline me…" Matt whispered with a small smile "I'm fine. Really, I am!"

"Hey guys?" Astrid cut in, staring at the two "I know that we're all happy to see each other, but we need to get moving! Hiccup's going to wait for us and I want to be there before the Slavers find him."

"Ah yeah of course." Matt said, looking away from Heather. The questions began to run through his head again, to which he just shrugged away and focused on what Astrid was telling them.

"Can you ride?" Astrid asked, looking at Matt's bruises.

"Probably not standing, but I can sit on Wasatch." He replied, looking at his dragon who landed next to him and was eyeing the new Skrill. "I'll just follow you."

"Are you sure?" Heather asked, concerned for Matt.

Smiling, Matt deactivated his brace and limped over to Wasatch. Swinging his leg over, he said "I'm fine. Just lead the way. The sooner we all get away, the sooner you can explain to me how the hell you trained a Skrill."

"It's a story…" Heather said, relieved that Matt was still acting like himself. Climbing on Valkyrie, she then said "I'll follow you Matt, just in case you need help or something."

Nodding, Astrid slowly climbed on Stormfly, careful with her arm still resting in the homemade sling. Being settled in the saddle, she let Stormfly launch into the air. Urging Wasatch to follow, Matt gripped his front binding to help stabilize himself. He could hear Heather and her Skrill follow closely behind him. Turning around, he made eye contact with Heather and mouthed "Thank you."

Smiling, Heather just nodded and kept on looking forward.

Facing to what was ahead of him, Matt focused on keeping his eyes open and following Astrid.

"Matt!" Hiccup said loudly, seeing the group land their dragons where he and Toothless were hiding.

"Hiccup!" Matt shouted back, sliding off of Wasatch's neck. Limping to Hiccup, he grabbed him in a hug. "Thank you for coming for me…I was so sure that I was going to be leaving this island as a slave." he said quietly.

"It was rough trying to come up with a plan." Hiccup said with a smile, pulling away from Matt "When we saw that ship arrive, we just went with what we had."

"It was mainly Heather's idea" Astrid said with a smile "We just added a little bit of our ideas into it as well."

"Thank you guys…" Matt said softly, incredibly grateful to have the friends he had. Limping near Astrid, he then grabbed her in a hug saying "I forgot to thank you for freeing Wasatch and helping me escape."

"Please!" Astrid said with a smile "When am I not saving your butt?"

"That's a fair point." Matt replied with a smile "How 'bout we stop this hero business? I don't think my body can take another round of beatings."

Looking at Matt's bruised body, Hiccup asked "How bad did they treat you?"

"Can't you see?" Matt answered in a serious tone, gesturing to his body "Anytime I talked or shifted my body wrong, they hit me in the chest or stomach. One of the slavers was going to cut my tongue out."

Heather then jumped in "We need to get going! I don't want to be here anymore than we need to be!" She still didn't want to think what could have happened to Matt.

"Agreed." Astrid followed up "We can talk about this later, right now we need to put some more distance between us and the slavers."

"And the buyers." Matt muttered. Turning to Hiccup he said "The stranger that was going to buy me said he'd help Savage find the rest of you. I imagine that he still intends to do that since he lost me."

"Well…that's not good." Hiccup said methodically. Looking at Matt he said "Well, I guess now's a good time to figure out why that lightning storm never goes away."

"Wait, why?" Astrid asked curiously.

"Because I think that it'll deter our enemies from following us." Hiccup explained "and it lets us get farther away from their camp."

Looking at the lightning filled sky to the west of them, Matt added "And who knows what we might find."

"Fine, let's get going. We can explain each other's stories on the ride there." Heather said, walking next to Matt "As I'm sure you have a few questions."

"You're absolutely right about that." Matt replied, staring at Valkyrie "More than a few actually."

Smiling, Heather handed Matt his sword. Grasping it, Matt smiled and said "Well, that answers one of my questions."

"Need a coat?" Astrid asked, gesturing to Matt's bruised body "A shirt at least? We can tear some of our leather on our saddles to make you something."

Shaking his head, Matt said "Nah, its summer. The days are warmer and the nights aren't bad when I'm sleeping with Wasatch." Pulling Heather closer to him, he added "Besides, I'm sure she's going to make something to put on the bruises."

"Maybe. If I can find some ingredients." Heather said with a smile. Pulling away from Matt, she climbed on Valkyrie and said "Ready to go?"

"Yes lets…" Hiccup said softly, climbing into his saddle "We'll need to put as much distance between us and Savage as we can."

Matt tenderly climbed onto Wasatch's neck and said "Well, lead the way Hiccup. We'll be right with you."