I'm so sorry its been so long but here is the first chapter.
It had taken more than a couple of months to fully recover from the battle with the Red Death but Hiccup had never been happier. He had built himself a leg and completely redesigned Toothless's rig in Ragnar's forge as well as exploring the surrounding areas both on foot and dragon-back. He'd begun making his own book of dragons and a map, both of which were in a separate notebook; he would make a larger wall map for his own hut that he and Ragnar had built and a larger leather bound book for his book of dragons.
But what made him happiest was his very unconventional family. Ragnar had become the father figure that Hiccup had always needed, taking the time to teach him how to fight, always being there for him, and just being genuinely interested in him. Hiccup had taught Ragnar everything he'd discovered about dragons, Ragnar growing quite close to the second nightmare who seemed to have attached herself to the little group after the battle at the nest. Ragnar had named her Sage and she was a deep olive green with a few flecks of lighter green and yellow with bright amber eyes.
Hiccup had made them a saddle and the four of them would regularly go for flights together in the mornings but Hiccup and Toothless would always go out alone in the evenings. The dragons from the arena had begun venturing further and further away from their island as the weeks slipped by and Hiccup was confident that they'd eventually go off on their own, but he hoped they'd return from time to time. Whilst the male nightmare from the arena had been less reluctant to leave without Sage, the terrible terror, who Hiccup had named Sharpshot, would rarely leave with the other dragons, choosing to stay with Hiccup and Ragnar.
Once it hit the 12 month mark of Hiccup leaving Berk, the arena dragons with the exception of Sharpshot, had gone their own way but they would always come when Toothless called for them. Before they had left, Hiccup had decided to name the nightmare and the nadder as they were the two that would return most regularly. He'd named the nightmare Hookfang to the dragon's great pleasure and called the nadder Stormfly for her odd desire to go out in storms. Hiccup had also grown into himself, mastering his swordsman skills and furthering his ability in the forge. He'd begun going off exploring with Toothless for longer periods of time, Ragnar preferring to stay on their island which they had decided to call Sannaheim, their true home.
It was one of these times when Hiccup had gone exploring that he first came across the Grimborn brothers and the dragon hunters. Hiccup and Toothless had stopped to rest for the night on an island that was a two day flight from Sannaheim when they heard a dragon shriek. Hiccup looked over to Toothless who had gotten up and was growling lowly in the back of his throat. "What the?" Hiccup murmured to himself before getting to his feet. He quickly packed up his things and climbed into the saddle before Toothless began creeping through the thick forest. As they neared the beach, the screeching got louder until he could see large shadows moving in the light of multiple flames, the occasional burst of light from the fire of an agitated dragon. Peering around a large boulder, he saw a large camp filled with cages of a green metal Hiccup didn't recognise, each one imprisoning a distressed dragon.
Gesturing to Toothless to wait out of sight, Hiccup quietly crept over to the nearest cage that had a blue deadly nadder in it. As he got closer he gasped when he recognised that it was his nadder from Berk. "Hey girl," he whispered, causing Stormfly to chirp in joy. "No, no, shh. I need you to be quiet- good girl. Now once I get you out of this cage I need to get as far away as possible," he instructed and hoping she could understand him enough. When he opened the cage, instead of flying away, the nadder drunkenly staggered out and thankfully headed straight towards the tree line. "What the-?" he muttered to himself. His initial plan was to release as many of the dragons as he could and then leave but if they were all going to act the same way as Stormfly, then there was no way it would work. Taking one last look around the camp, Hiccup slunk back into the forest where he found Toothless anxiously waiting with Stormfly who had slumped to the ground. "What did they do to you?" he asked no one in particular as he crouched next to the nadder's head and gently stroked her while examining her for wounds. Spotting two arrows in her flank, Hiccup tried to remove them as delicately as he could before using Toothless's saliva and a few herbs and a bandage from his saddle bag to clean the wounds. Slipping the arrows into another bag, Hiccup got up and led the nadder further from the camp where hopefully she could sleep off whatever was affecting her, Toothless escorting them on high alert.
-o0o-
The following morning, Stormfly was back to her usual self as Hiccup examined the arrows in the morning light. Toothless had already sniffed the arrowhead and immediately recoiled, confirming Hiccup's thought that the coating on the arrowhead is what had put the dragon in her condition. "We need to free those dragons," Hiccup said to himself and the two dragons, "but you two can't get hit by those arrows otherwise it'll be the end of us... and I'm guessing those cages are strong enough to resist a dragon's fire otherwise the hunters wouldn't be able to hold the dragons for long...unless...hey girl?" the nadder lifted her head to face Hiccup, "do you think you could shoot your spines with enough accuracy and the right angle to flick up the latches on the cages in the dark?" An angry squark was met to his question and a dragony chuckle from his supposedly loyal best friend. "Ok gees I get it," he laughed with his hands up in surrender, "don't question a dragon's accuracy."
Once nightfall returned and he'd packed up their camp, Hiccup jumped in the saddle and the three of them headed towards the hunters that would hopefully be less guarded in the night. Toothless and Hiccup were invisible against the dark sky circling the camp as Stormfly silently shot her spines with incredible accuracy each time. Either the dragons were sleeping or they had been too heavily drugged to realise their freedom, but none of the dragons broke free of their cages. "Ok, bud, take us down. Let's see what they've done to these poor dragons."
As Toothless silently landed, Hiccup slid off the saddle, his dragon scaled armour hiding him in the shadows along with his dragon. The duo slunk through the camp inspecting each cage. The dragons were definitely drugged up on whatever was coating the arrowheads that were buried in their flanks. Methodically, Hiccup removed the arrows from all twenty dragons as Toothless kept them as quiet as he could, Stormfly keeping watch for approaching hunters. Once Hiccup had removed the arrows from all of the dragons and wiped a salve onto the wounds, the boy and his two dragons slunk back to the cover of the forest to wait for the toxins to lose effect on the caged dragons.
The sky was just beginning to lighten on the horizon when the first few dragons he'd treated began to stir. "I'm going to go and see if I can get them out," Hiccup muttered to his companions, "wait here in case you need to bail me out." Heading for the nearest cage, he saw the zippleback inside looking much more alert than a few hours earlier, much to his relief. Creaking the cage door open, both of the zippleback's heads nudged him gently in thanks before flying off with some level of coordination. Just as he was about to coax a skrill out of its cage submerged in water, a blade was pressed against his neck. "What do we have here?" a male voice spoke. Whilst turning his head slightly to the side to try and get a look at his captor, Hiccup slowly reached for Inferno which was strapped to his hip. He could tell that the man was not as big as the typical viking, but he was still larger than him and would definitely be more experienced. It would be unlikely that Hiccup could beat him before the fighting would draw the attention of all of the guards. But with the guards distracted, the dragons could all flee with less of a chance of being shot down. He just needed to communicate with Toothless.
Moving his hand from his sword and raising them both slowly above his head, he gradually stood up and turned to face the man. He had cropped brown hair with a goatee, his eyes calculating and his stance confident. The man casually flicked the sword up under Hiccup's chin, the barely sixteen year old staring back. "So," the man began, "what is a small boy, such as yourself, doing in my camp?" When Hiccup didn't answer, the man continued, lowering his sword so that it pointed at Hiccup's chest "oh my apologies, where are my manners. My name is Viggo Grimborn and by releasing my dragons, you are destroying my business."
"You're a dragon hunter?" Hiccup asked sceptically.
"Indeed. Which means I cannot have you releasing my dragons. It is bad for business, you see," the man, Viggo, reiterated. "Some of my customers want these dragons alive, some are not too fussed as they simply want the resources a dragon has to offer, its hide and organs for example." Seeing Hiccup's sick face, the man chuckled. "A dragon sympathiser I see. You will not do well to defend the beasts in this world m'boy. Now I do have some reservations about killing young and naive children, so get out of here. Should you interfere with my business again, I shall be far less forgiving."
Hiccup stood there for a few seconds contemplating on what to do. He couldn't leave the dragons behind, but he didn't want Viggo and his men to know about Toothless. He was sure they'd do anything to get their hands on a night fury. Praying to the gods that the skrill caged behind him wasn't as aggressive as the one other skrill he'd encountered, he spun on his heel and slashed the ropes holding the dragon in the water with his dagger. The skrill burst from his cage, shrieking and making Viggo take a few nervous steps back. Sending a quick plea to Thor to allow him to ride one of his creations, Hiccup leapt onto the skrill's back just as the dragon shot into the sky. He heard Toothless roar in the distance and watched as the dragons simultaneously burst from their cages. So far the skrill hadn't shocked him or thrown him off but it wasn't listening to him either. It wasn't flying straight either, likely still affected by the green coated arrows. Noticing a long slash on its flank, Hiccup tried to calm the skrill and coax it to land in the hopes that he could treat it, not to mention finding a way back to Toothless and Stormfly. Just as he had thought that, he heard the beating of wings and a familiar squark. Looking up he saw Stormfly flying above them just before she gently plucked him from the skrill's back. "Stormfly! We need to get that skrill to land, he's bleeding and disorientated still!" he shouted up to the nadder. She trilled in response but continued to head for the island. "Stormfly, no! We have to help- oomph!" he groaned as he picked himself up off the ground where Stormfly had dropped him before heading back up into the sky. He turned and saw Toothless bounding over to him, "Toothless! C'mon bud, we need to get that skrill." Leaping into the saddle, Toothless grumbled in determination before snapping his wings open and propelling them upwards.
They managed to herd the skrill to the far side of the island, Stormfly and Toothless having to hold the dragon down in the shallow water on the beach while Hiccup cleaned and dressed the wound. Once he'd finished, he threw the dragon a fish which it snapped up with enthusiasm before eyeing Hiccup and the other two dragons. The three retreated to a small cave in the cliff's face that was only accessible by flight. Hiccup immediately curled up in his best friend's wings before falling asleep, exhausted from the events of the last few days. The following morning, they found the skrill waiting for them in front of a pile of fish, nudging a few towards them. Hiccup nodded his head in thanks before checking the dragon's wounds. The skrill would be fine. Bowing to the boy and two dragons, the skrill shrieked before he took off into the sky, heading in the opposite direction of the hunters.
As they began their journey home, Stormfly in tow, Hiccup vowed that he'd end the dragon hunter's business one way or another, an icy hardness forming behind his eyes.
They'd sent out an empty pyre that created a bright orange glow on the surrounding black waters. Stoick couldn't bring himself to part with any of Hiccup's possessions so it was just the empty boat that was sailed out. Staring up at the stars as the pyre burnt in the distance, Astrid clung onto the thought and hope that Hiccup and Toothless were still alive. Maybe they hadn't found a body because they hadn't died, but rather flown off before the explosion? But Gobber said they'd seen Hiccup fall from Toothless into the flames. Hope could be dangerous, but with the raids over maybe they could learn to live alongside the dragons just in case Hiccup ever came home. But first they'd need to re-stock the village's supplies and rebuild the homes that were destroyed in the last raid before they had set out for the nest.
"It's called dragon root, I've seen it before. It clouds a dragon's senses. As far as I know, only boulder class dragons are immune."
"Boulder class?"
"Gronckels, whispering deaths, thunderpedes-"
"Oh yeah, sorry."
"Don't apologise, there's a lot to remember. But we need to work out why they're growing it since there are pretty much no dragons this far south."
"Maybe they sell it to those in the north where it doesn't grow as well?"
"Maybe, it does need a lot of light to grow. They could be using it to trade-"
"-In exchange for dragons or dragon products?"
"It does seem logical."
"But I thought you stopped the hunters when you were eighteen?"
"So did I…the fact still remains that we need to destroy the plantation though."
"Agreed."
Patting his dragon's head, the black shadow swooped down over the plantation, the slightly smaller rust coloured dragon dragon following close behind. The two riders, clad in their dragon's scales, poured a thick green liquid from a large barrel over the dragon root before signalling for the two dragons to ignite the field. Soaring up into the night, the two dragons and their riders disappeared into the night, heading back to their beds in the Roman camp so they would never be suspected.