Hiccup stared shocked, realizing how wrong he had been in trusting him. All the hopes he had...

Too angry to let him get away, Hiccup activated a trigger that shot a rope with a hook at the end, plunging itself in Viggo's stomach, but not deep enough to kill him, simply get him off.

''What the Hell..!'' Viggo cried out as he fell on the side, holding his stomach, trying to stop the bleeding by clawing the wound.

Hiccup grabbed his sword and placed it back in its sheath, and pulled the hook and rope back in the center of the shield.

''Sorry about that...'' Hiccup said as he went off after Dagur, running as fast as his one and half leg could carry him.

Viggo didn't try to stop him, not only because he hadn't the Dragon Eye, but because he knew he was good as dead. He had managed to cut him on the arm with his poison blade...

Behind the boulders they had been hiding with, Hiccup spotted Toothless wrapped up in ropes, his jaws tightly shut.

''Toothless!'' Hiccup cried out, collapsing beside his best friend. ''What has he done to you?'' But Hiccup didn't wait for an answer and pulled out his hunting knife to cut him free. Once free, Toothless roared and shook himself to get the feeling back. ''We need to stop Dagur before we makes it further out the Archipelago. Not to mention he has the Dragon Eye... ''

Toothless growled in agreement and insisted Hiccup to mount up. Without hesitating, Hiccup hopped on the saddle and they climbed up to the sky. A day went fast. The sun was already setting itself, and soon they wouldn't be able to see much but the moon and its reflection dancing on the water. Plus, the thick fog would rise soon...

''Come on, Bud...'' Hiccup said, and they soared above the ocean, back where Dagur and Ryker's fleet had met. But when they got there, there was no ship in sight, nothing. The fog was rising now and he could barely see the water from up there.

Toothless hovered above the place the two fleets had once been, giving Hiccup time to think things through and what to do now. Hiccup looked around, searching for any sign that told him in which direction Dagur could've sailed... But he found nothing. He put his head in his hands, ashamed of himself for trusting Dagur on this...

The moon was now high and the fog had vanished just like every ship. Toothless let out a worried growled, asking his rider what they should do next. Hiccup patted his buddy's scaly head and flew back to the Edge, now hoping the others wouldn't be mad for putting himself in danger without warning them.

...

Astrid stood out on the stables' landing and taking off platform, looking out at the sky just in case Hiccup and Toothless might suddenly appear.

''Are you guys ready or not?'' she asked, turning around to face the other riders saddling up their dragons.

''Astrid would you please calm down..!'' Snotlout begged, ''We know you're having a hard time but please don't release your anger on us! You're driving us crazy!''

''Sorry... I'm just worried.'' she said.

''That I can tell...'' he agreed.

''Hey, what are guys talking about?'' Tuffnut asked, placing himself between them. ''Can we bring the subject about where Hiccup is and why he left us?''

''Argh... NO!'' Astrid told him for the hundredth time.

''Great! Why did Hiccup leave us?'' Tuff asked.

''He didn't leave us!'' Astrid repeated again.

''Oh... Then why did he left?''

''Ugh...''

''Hey guys!'' Fishlegs called, pointing out at the dark sky. ''I see something!''

''Two late guests!'' Tuff spoke, ''Clearly they're not aware of the debate etiquette...''

Toothless came down and landed on the stables' platform, close to his friend.

''Hiccup!'' the twins shouted joyfully.

''Where have you been?'' Fishlegs questioned.

''Why did you leave without warning us?'' Snotlout asked.

Hiccup didn't answer right away, for he looked at Astrid that stayed arms crossed at the back, clearly mad at him for leaving them behind and putting himself in danger.

He dismounted and approached her. ''Astrid, I-''

''Save it. I don't feel like talking to you right now...'' she snapped and went off, back to her hut, now that he was back.

Hiccup had trouble taking this in. Despite his heart telling him to talk to her anyway, he walked back to his hut to get some rest, his head low with Toothless following him closely. When he entered his residence, he remembered the pillow structures he had build to foil his friends, and he couldn't deal with himself at the moment. Even though telling himself continually that he did the right thing, that he protected his friends wasn't a mistake, he still felt ashamed and had difficulty living with himself at the time. And he didn't know what to do to make that feeling go away...

His breath quicken, his fist tightened and his brows lowered. And as soon as anger won over him, he started punching the hard wooden wall, injuring himself in the process. Toothless stared at his rider, lowering his head in fright for he had never seen him that way.

He kept punching the wall until his knuckles bled badly. When there was no strength left in his arm and realized there was no goal to all this, he stopped and took the time to calm down.

How could he lose it all? Not only had someone betrayed him, and lost the Dragon Eye, but Astrid was now rejecting him and he couldn't stand that...

Hiccup finally lay down on his bed, an arm to cover his eyes.

But that didn't last long for he remembered what all of this was about. The Dragon Eye. Which wasn't in the right hands at the moment... He had to get it back.

He got out of the bed and walked up to his desk, looking down at the map resting on the wooden surface. He wrapped a cloth around his hand to cover his bloody knuckles as he searched where Dagur could possibly be going. If he hadn't seen any ship around the Dragon Hunters' island, that probably meant he was sailing south...

Without losing anymore time here, he grabbed his satchel, in which he would place the Dragon Eye in when he gets it back from Dagur. And despite the fact of knowing that he was about to leave his friends here, again, Hiccup climbed on the saddle and went off.


It's Hiccup's birthday today! Let's wish him a good day, and hope he doesn't die for what is to come next :D