Chapter 3

There was no sign of the British navy after days and days of waiting. Hiccup was getting anxious and bored. He missed Astrid most of all. "I mean, we had just gotten together," he was complaining to Toothless one afternoon, "I finally had friends and a girlfriend and then he took them all away!" Toothless cocked his head to side and stared at Hiccup. "UHHHH," he said as he threw himself onto the ground next to him, "I bet she doesn't even miss me as much as I miss her. And, I bet this navy is never actually coming!"

Toothless nudged him slightly and curled up next to him. Hiccup smiled and rubbed behind his ears. "At least I still have you." Toothless cracked his ridiculous smile, making Hiccup laugh.

"I hate this," Astrid screamed as she hit the wall repetitively, "I hate this I hate this I hate this!" She was on the boat with the other teens and children. Ruffnut was the only standing anywhere near her. "I mean seriously," she screamed, "How can they do this to us? We have been ousted from our home with most of parents still there! Where are they even sending us? How long is it going to take to get there? Days? Weeks? Months? Where are we going to be living when we get there? Are we ever going to get to go home," she screamed. Ruffnut shrugged her shoulders slightly, afraid to answer. "I didn't even get to say good-bye," she said much quieter and she slumped into the chair next to Ruffnut.

"You mean to Hiccup," Ruffnut asked and Astrid nodded, "Don't worry, he'll be fine. We'll see them again." Astrid turned away.

"This just sucks," she said and got up and walked to the other side of the ship alone.

The siren was sounding, the adults were running all over as the large ships approached the shore. "Stay inside Hiccup," Stoic said, "Gobber will come get you if necessary." Before he could respond, his father ran from the house. Hiccup turned to Toothless.

"Go with him," he whispered, "Get me if something is wrong." Toothless nodded and flew out through the window. Hiccup stood by the window and watched to see anything he could. Soldiers had started to disembark from their ships and line up in front of Stoic. Hiccup squinted to try to see what was going on better.

He couldn't see and became frustrated. He climbed out the window and snuck down the hill toward the gathering. Once there, he hid behind the closest house and listened.

"We are ordered to take this land by force if necessary," a British man was saying, "Only then can you win your land back. There will be no bartering."

"We don't have those kinds of resources," Stoic yelled.

"We gave you adequate time to prepare," the British man said again.

"We don't have any resources to create an army or any sort of weapons to come close to yours," Stoic yelled again. Hiccup could hear his voice getting louder and angrier.

"Then we will be taking the land and any people left on this island as prisoners of war," the commander said and he gestured for his soldiers to move forward.

"NOOOOO," Stoic yelled and charged at the commander. Hiccup jumped out from behind the building and ran toward his dad.

"Dad, no," he yelled. But it was too late. The commander had his musket ready and shot it right at Stoic. Hiccup froze in his tracks. His father fell to the ground clutching his arm, which was gushing blood. Hiccup limped over to him as fast as possible and fell to his side. "Dad," he whispered quietly. Before he could say anything else, he was ripped away from his side by a British soldier. "No! GET OFF! THAT'S MY DAD!" The soldier had Hiccup tight and he could not break free to get to his father. "Toothless," he screamed, "We need help! Get Astrid and the others! Quickly!" Toothless nodded and made a loud screeching noise. Soon the other dragons that remained in Berk came flying towards him. Toothless went jumping toward the ocean with the other dragons flying behind him. The British soldiers seemed to not have noticed the dragons at all.

The soldier took Hiccup into the main hall in the center of the village with the other prisoners and locked him into chains against the walls. "What about my dad," he yelled, "he's going to die if you leave him there!" The soldier kicked Hiccup's leg and he cried out in pain.

"We allowed a Viking to care for him," the soldier said and he kicked Hiccup's leg again before leaving. Hiccup sat against the wall with his arms pinned above his head, praying that his father was alright and Toothless and the other dragons would return with the others soon.

Back on the ship Astrid sat fiddling with her hair nervously, staring out at the open sea. "You okay babe," Snotlout said as he put his arm around her. She rolled her eyes and shook him off.

"Don't call me that," she said.

"Oh right," he said, "You're a taken girl now…"

"Hopefully I still will be when this is over," she whispered. Snotlout said nothing and Astrid continued to stare out at the sea. Suddenly, she could see a dark figure looming in the distance. "What is that," she said. Snotlot looked out where she was looking.

"Is it a ship," he asked but Astrid shook her head.

"It's moving too fast. And there's more than one," she said. She squinted her eyes as the object got closer. Suddenly she realized what it was and her eyes widened. "Its Toothless," she screamed, "Toothless and a bunch of dragons are headed this way!" The others started to crowd around her as he got closer. "Oh no," Astrid muttered, "Something horrible must have happened…"

'They've been sent to take us back to Berk," Fishlegs yelled. Toothless jumped out of the water and onto the ship and ran straight to Astrid and nudged her hard.

"Don't need to tell me twice buddy," she said and climbed onto his back. "Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snotlout, get on the other dragons! I don't know what we're going to be up against." The others nodded before climbing onto their dragons. "Lets go," Astrid said to Toothless, who took off, back toward Berk.

The travel from the boat and back took days and by the time Toothless was even close to getting back with Astrid and the others, Hiccup had been chained up for days and had no idea if his father was still alive or not. Or even if Toothless was on the way with Astrid. He hadn't been fed and was starting the feel it. His leg was in unbearable pain from being kicked repeatedly by the soldiers. He prayed that Toothless would be back soon.

Outside the village, the teens and their dragons had just arrived and were met by Gobber at Hiccup's house.

'The whole city is invaded by them," he whispered, "They've raided the houses, taken everyone left onto their boats for captivity. Except Hiccup, he's been chained in the main house for days. And Stoic was shot!" Everyone gasped.

"Is he going to be alright," Astrid asked.

"It doesn't look good," Gobber said. They were all silent for a moment.

'We need a plan," Astrid said. "We need to rescue Hiccup first."

"Why that first," Tuffnut asked.

"Cause you miss him," Snotlout teased. Astrid punched him in the arm.

"No idiot," she said, "You know we can't do this without him." They all eventually nodded in agreement. Astrid thought for a moment and looked back up at them. "I got it."