Chapter Six

A/N: I forgot to tell you guys this but it is kind of important: since this is a more 'complex' or at least a longer plot, I've divided it up into three sections (or even acts, if you want to call them that). This chapter marks the beginning of the climax for the first act. :)

In response to...

The Wolf Raven: Well learning a second language is hard (believe me, I know XD) especially the speaking-aspect. (I was always pretty good at reading Spanish but actually holding a conversation...ehhh not so much.) Anyway, get rest and get better! :D Being sick sucks!

FictionalMe888: Yay! Welcome to the club! XD I'm glad you like my stories :D

Needless to say, that night is not a peaceful one in the Haddock house. It's late into the night, much later than Hiccup normally stays up, and the boy is laying on his bed, the covers draped lazily around him. And even though his room is dark and his fire pit has nearly burned out, his eyes are still open.

Hiccup stares at the ceiling, his mind lost in thought. He knows he shouldn't worry this much. After all, his father knows what he's doing so he should trust him... But Hiccup has always been the worrying type. The 'what if...?' type. And now, he can't stop all those 'what ifs' from flooding his mind and keeping his eyelids peeled open, even though there are already only four or five hours until the sun rises...

But at least he isn't the only one who's still up. Toothless easily senses his human's distress and hasn't left his side since they returned home. Now the Night Fury is curled up beside Hiccup's bed, purring quietly to reassure the boy that everything is okay. And Hiccup is grateful for that, occasionally reaching down to scratch Toothless's chin the way he loves.

"Thanks, bud..." He whispers at one point. "You know, I'd be a nervous wreck if it weren't for you."

Toothless perks his ears at that and snorts, shifting his weight so he's leaning against the bed and Hiccup doesn't have to reach down so far to pet him. He yawns tiredly but keeps his eyes open, determined to stay awake if Hiccup is planning to as well.

"You can sleep though, you know." Hiccup mutters. "One of us should get some decent rest... Thor knows we'll probably need it." But the dragon, as stubborn as ever, simply continues to nuzzle his hand and purr comfortingly.

So now, if not for his own sake then for Toothless's, Hiccup tries to fall asleep for the hundredth time tonight. Shutting his eyes, he forces himself to yawn and tells himself he's tired. He's been up all night so he must be tired. ...except he isn't. He rolls onto his side and gently pets Toothless's smooth head, trying to relax. But it doesn't help. No matter how hard he tries, his brain simply won't stop running and running and running.

It's while his eyes are closed and he's struggling to find sleep that his dragon's ears perk up, first the left one and then the right. Toothless tilts his head, listening. ...what was that sound? And...wait...why does he smell-

"Smoke?" Hiccup sits upright in bed, his nose having caught the scent as well. He flashes Toothless a wide-eyed look before throwing himself out of the bed and rushing downstairs. "Wake my dad." He tells Toothless as he goes to the door.

Obviously, the first thing he thinks of is a dragon attack. After all, he grew up with them. But as soon as he opens the door...he realizes how dreadfully wrong he is.

"Hiccup?" Stoick mumbles as he comes staggering out of his room, still half asleep and practically being dragged by Toothless. His brow furrows in confusion at the sight of his son's shocked expression.

There's a fine pillar of smoke filtering in from outside as well as the distant voices of men...speaking a foreign language. Stoick barges across the room and guides Hiccup out of the way, pushing his son behind him as he looks out the door...

"Mother of Thor..." He breathes in horror. How so many of Ymir's men were able to enter the village and set fire a barn without anyone noticing them is beyond him, but Stoick doesn't waste anymore time before grabbing his axe, sword, and helmet and racing outside to stop this chaos. The only moment he does allow is the time it takes to turn back to Hiccup and shout, "Stay in the house!"

He misses the 'are you kidding me' look his son flashes in return, as well as the fact that Hiccup has leaped into Toothless's saddle and taken to the air, flying further into town. He's got to find the other Riders and warn them...

Stoick doesn't see any of this because he quickly gets caught up in the moment when he notices one of the soldiers is distracted. Without hesitating for even a second, the Chief grabs the man by his throat and spins him around so he's glaring into the young man's pitiless, brown eyes.

"What were your orders?!" Stoick demands, squeezing his captive's neck just enough to be quite painful but not so much that he can't speak to answer the question.

The soldier looks taken aback, obviously not having expected a four-hundred pound man to thunder up behind him and grab him by the throat. He sputters for a moment and struggles under Stoick's grip until it becomes apparent he can't get loose... "B-burn the village down!" He chokes out, obviously fighting for the words that are not his native tongue. "Unless S-Stoick the Vast surrenders!"

By this point, most of the village has awoken and everyone is fighting. The clash of steel swords echos through the square, accompanied by the confused shrieks of dragons. They know they should be helping but they aren't entirely sure what's going on. Without Riders, they don't know who to shoot or what to protect. They don't want to hurt someone who might not be an enemy...

Ymir's men have the clear advantage now. Their weapons truly are more advanced. Swords that make cleaner cuts, axes that are easier to swing, bolas that don't have to be thrown as hard and can wrap two people at once... So soon, the Hooligan forces are dangerous reduced. Not many are killed but almost everyone has been injured to some degree.

The town square has become a strange camp of-sorts. A handful of Ymir's soldiers create a perimeter there, swords drawn and ready to fend off anyone Berkian who comes too close. That is where the captured Hooligans are thrown. Arms and legs bound, sometimes even gags stuffed into their mouths, they are tossed aside like sacks of flour and abandoned so their opponent can return to the battlefield.

It's not until the Dragon Riders arrive that the Berkians have a real chance. It starts with a dark shadow tearing across the black sky, accompanied by the familiar and blood-chilling screech of a Night Fury. There's a short moment of silence before-

BOOM!

The ground explodes with violet light, chips of flaming dirt and stone raining down as a furious wind whips up, the nearly invisible dragon rocketing by just above their heads.

Then, the others show up. They arrive in some sloppy triangle formation, their dragons firing down at the enemy as they go. Hookfang even grabs one of Ymir's men off of a Hooligan just as he's about to drive a dagger into his throat. The Monstrous Nightmare flings him over a rooftop and chortles ornerily as he disappears into the distance.

"Hookfang, Hookfang! Oi, oi, oi!" Snotlout chants as they swerve to rejoin the fight. And for a while, it looks like nothing can stop them. The Riders and their dragons take out a large number of the invaders, probably cutting their ranks in half...

But it isn't enough. And soon, things start to go wrong.

Fishlegs screams as he and Meatlug are struck by a well-aimed bola. The two of them falling like a rock to the hard ground. His Gronckle is instantly muzzled and dragged away, Fishlegs being bound and tossed into the square like everyone else.

Hiccup scowls to himself, watching as Snotlout and Hookfang are taken down, then the twins...and finally, even Astrid is shot down. He grimaces when a soldier snaps a cruel-looking muzzle on Stormfly's beak and grabs a fistful of Astrid's hair, dragging her away by it and the back of her shirt.

Furious, he spins Toothless around and orders a plasma blast. The two friends duck and weave as arrows and bolas whiz past them, only off by fractions of an inch.

"NIGHT FURY!" Someone shouts. "GET DOWN!"

But Toothless never gets to fire his shot. Just as they are in their downward arch, a bola slams into Hiccup's side, wrapping his arms to his sides and throwing off his balance. In his distraction, he misses the vital flick of the controls. Toothless's tailfin doesn't open at the right time...and they smash into the ground.

Hiccup flies off the saddle, landing heavily on his shoulder and scraping up his cheek on the ground. Immediately, he's swarmed by soldiers who grab him and drag him off toward the others...

"TOOTHLESS!" He cries in despair as his dragon is muzzled, bound and lugged off to some unknown destination. "DON'T YOU DARE HURT HIM!" He shouts to no one in particular.

"Hiccup..." Astrid mutters as he's thrown down beside her. "You're bleeding..."

He looks down at the terrible scrapes on his arms and shoulder from falling off his saddle, which are beginning to well up with blood. The one on his cheek is already dripping onto the ground and they burn horribly but he doesn't care... He's too angry to really feel them.

That coward, Ymir...attacking them in the middle of the night... Coward! Hiccup strains to see past the crowd, needing to know what his father is doing. He eventually spots him in the crowd, still fighting valiantly.

But he's surrounded. He and the few remaining Hooligans are trapped in a circle of their enemies that is slowly closing in on them. There's nothing they can do...

Which is why now is the time Ymir chooses to show up. He can't possibly be hurt now, so when strolls into the burning husk of a village, he's wearing a very proud smile. The foreign Chief is dressed in what appears to be armor...but it's flimsy and weak. Not meant for battle, only decoration.

He doesn't intend on fighting his own battles. Coward!

"I'm sorry it had to be this way, Stoick." He purrs. "But you really gave us no choice." The man offers an apologetic grin before casually turning and walking toward the captured villagers. "And you don't need to worry. I won't be hurting any of your people, so long as you surrender..." A rumble of hatred moves through the crowd. Don't give up, Stoick! Don't you dare! Ymir looks over his shoulder at Stoick.

"No!" The other Chief barks. "We're Vikings! We don't surrender!"

"Oh?" Ymir hisses. "Vikings fight to the last man, eh? Well...what if there was something a little more...precious on the line?" With a hand as quick as lightning, he grabs Hiccup by the hair and forces him to his feet, yanking him out in front before throwing him back down. "What do you say, Stoick?!" He shouts as one of his men presses a knife to Hiccup's throat. "Are you willing to fighting to the last man, even if it means killing your own son?!"

A/N: Cliffhanger...oops.

Sorry if that sounded rushed...it sort of was. (A friend's birthday party got me all discombobulated.)