Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD
A/N: So sorry this took so long, guys. Halfway through I changed my mind and started writing a different scenario, only to change my mind again and go back to this version. However, if you guys are interested, I can finish up the alternate part and post it as a bonus chapter ;)
Warrior or Whisperer – Part Five
After lunch, Mik suggested that he ditched the boring Althing talks and come hang out with the young heir and his friends at the lagoon. Hiccup went under the pretence - not entirely unfounded - that a good soak would help Toothless' wing heal. The dragon was more than happy to lounge in the large hot spring, sprawled with eyes closed and making happy gurgling sounds.
The teens were full of questions – not about dragons, these time, but Hiccup himself. What was it like where he lived? What did he actually do? Did he have kids? He dried off and retrieved his notebook to show them sketches of Astrid and Helena. There were a lot of appreciative whistles and "D'aww"s at the sight.
It wasn't long before the conversation came around to chiefdoms and inheritance. "The thing is, I wasn't even first in line" Mik said gloomily, "I had a big brother, Markus. He was supposed to take over my dad as chief of the tribe, but, um…he and my mum both…they were out at sea, and there was this storm…" he trailed off and blinked. Toothless crooned sympathy, and Hiccup murmured, "I'm so sorry."
Mik shrugged. "It's okay. It was years ago. Only now, everyone expects me to be Markus, and I'm not, y'know? I'm not my brother, and I'm definitely not my dad…I used to want to be chief, I was so jealous of Markus, but now…" he shook his head, long hair flying, and remarked, "Wow, that got heavy. I need to stop drinking this stuff."
"Yeah, maybe you have had enough" Hiccup suggested, reaching out to pull the flask of mead away from the teen. Seeing that Mik still looked glum, he added, "I know how you feel, though. When I was your age I felt the same way about taking over from my father…but I realised, the future was going to come whether I wanted it to or not. So I needed to prepare for it."
One of Mik's friends asked, "So you're a chief?"
"Nope" Hiccup smirked, "I got out of it."
Mik blinked, bewildered. "Wait, what? How?"
Hiccup's eyes shone with amusement as he replied casually, "I persuaded my wife to do it for me."
There was a pause, and then they burst out laughing. "Nice! Hey"-
"Don't even think about, Mik!" his girlfriend, Ingrid, beat him to it, and his friends jeered. Mik took it all with good humour and laughed himself.
Once they'd calmed down again, he asked Hiccup, "So you think I oughta just become chief like my dad and everyone wants?" He didn't sound bitter, exactly, but sort of disappointed. Like he'd been hoping for a way out of the responsibilities.
Hiccup hesitated. Inwardly he wondered if Helena would be this tricky to talk to when she was a teenager…then he recalled years of awkward conversations with his father and realised the answer was undoubtedly yes. "Oh, I don't know. I can't tell you how to live your life...but, well, someone close to me once said that you can run away from a lot of things, but the future isn't one of them. So maybe just keep that in mind, yeah?"
"Yeah…yeah, I guess you're right" Mik said thoughtfully, "maybe I'll"-
Somebody screamed.
Toothless and Hiccup were on alert at once, the dragon heaving himself from the water and Hiccup snatching up Inferno. The teens cowered as a large shadow spread over them, and Hiccup looked up in alarm to see… "Torch!"
*And here I was enjoying myself* Toothless grumbled, as the young Typhoomerang came to a somewhat clumsy landing on the edge of the lake. Hiccup gave him a disapproving look and approached Torch, who purred happily as he lowered his snout to press against Hiccup's outstretched hand.
"Hey, you. What're you doing here? This is still part of the human's territory, you know" Hiccup scolded him a bit, even as he scratched Torch's muzzle out of sheer habit. Torch rested his chin on Hiccup's shoulder and gave Toothless a smug look; the black dragon's tail lashed, eyes narrowing indignantly.
*I was bored* Torch informed Hiccup, peering at the humans who were all trying to hide behind Toothless or each other. *Who are they?*
Hiccup looked over his shoulder and said reassuringly, "Don't worry, guys, he's friendly. Hey, Mik, come here" he beckoned. Mik pointed to himself as if to say who, me? He looked from Hiccup and Torch, to his friends, and back to the dragon. Then he gulped and cautiously walked over.
"It's okay" Hiccup smiled encouragingly, "Mik, this is Torch. Torch, Mik" he introduced them both. Mik looked at the very big dragon and gave a nervous wave.
"Um…hi?" He glanced at Hiccup and asked, "Should I, err, do that thing you showed us?"
"If you like" Hiccup agreed, stepping back but staying close enough that he could intervene if something went wrong. Though he doubted it would; of all the wild dragons here, Torch was the one most used to humans, and he trusted the Fire-Spinner not to deliberately hurt Mik or any of the other teens.
So Mik hesitantly reached out a hand, glancing from it to Torch, in particular his fangs, and muttering "Nice dragon…no threat...please don't bite me…"
"You don't have to be so nervous, you know. You'll make him feel uneasy too. You need to show that you trust him, that you want to be friends. Like this" Hiccup explained, turning his head down and away, closing his eyes, and reaching out his left hand.
Toothless helped prove the point by pressing his snout into Hiccup's palm. Then he moved forward and pushed his jaw into Hiccup's stomach, in the process nudging him away from Torch. "What? Aw, are you jealous, you big baby?" Hiccup teased, "You want me all to yourself?"
*My human* Toothless declared to Torch, *Not yours*. Hiccup sighed; he didn't know whether to be exasperated by the pair of them, or amused.
Mik took a deep breath, and despite clearly not liking the idea, he closed his eyes and reached out his hand properly. Torch leaned down and sniffed at his fingers, whistling curiously. *He's not got food*.
*He's not trying to give you food* Toothless retorted. Hiccup shushed him and explained, *He wants to be friends, Torch. C'mon, don't keep him waiting*. So Torch pressed his snout carefully against Mik's palm, and the teenage heir opened his eyes in surprise.
"Wow…" he murmured quietly, and scratched at the dragon's muzzle a bit. Torch purred at him. "Heh. Good dragon. You're just like a huge scaly cat, aren't ya?"
By now, seeing that Mik was petting a wild dragon and not getting his fingers bitten off, a few of the other teens were plucking up the courage to approach. One of them asked "Hey Mik, isn't that the dragon your dad caught the other day?"
"Uh…maybe?"
"He is" Hiccup nodded, "There was a misunderstanding, but it's been sorted. You know, Torch here, his mother is the Queen – like, the Chief – of the local dragon pack."
"So, what, is he gonna be like, their king someday?"
"Well, actually, with dragons a male pack leader is called an alpha, not a king. It's kind of confusing. It's like how you can have a queen bee, or an alpha wolf, but there's no such thing as a queen wolf or a king bee. You see what I mean?"
"Uh…not really."
"Like I said, confusing. And that's not what you asked, is it? Sorry. Uh, no, Torch has an elder sister. She would take over the pack, unless their mother is challenged by a rival and loses" Hiccup explained at last.
Mik considered this thoughtfully. "Hmm…so does that mean if I got someone else to challenge my dad, they could be chief instead of me?"
Hiccup gave him a stern, disapproving frown. "Mik…"
"Just kidding!" he said hastily, "…sort of."
"How do you even know his mum is the Queen or pack leader or whatever?" asked Ingrid.
"Well, believe it or not, Toothless is the Alpha of our dragons back on Berk. When we came here, Torch's mother – the Queen – thought he was going to challenge her, so she challenged us instead. Like I said, it was all just a misunderstanding."
"But how do you know it was his mum and not some other Typhoomerang?"
"We'd already met her. Well, I say 'met'…"
"Can I have a ride on your dragon?" another of Mik's friends asked suddenly. By now there were several teens petting Torch's long muzzle and scratching beneath his jaw; the Typhoomerang had his eyes closed and was purring with pleasure.
"Err – well, we would, but Toothless sprained his wing earlier. He's resting it" Hiccup explained. He used the reminder as an excuse to check on the injury; it should have healed at least halfway by now, given how drained he felt. There wasn't much pain there now.
*We? I never said I'd do it even if I could fly right now* Toothless protested.
*Oh come on, bud, don't be like that. You like giving people rides, don't you?*
*Sometimes. Other times I just let people on my back because you want me to*.
*But that's when they're enemies. Mik and his friends aren't enemies, they're just kids* Hiccup insisted. A thought occurred to him and he asked, "Didn't Eret and his crew give you rides on their dragons?"
"Yeah, but I wanna ride a Night Fury!" the boy explained, grinning in anticipation. Mik agreed, as did many of the other teens. A few of them wondered if they could hitch a ride on "the big orange one" as well. Torch, realising they were talking about him, got nervous and tried to hide his bulk behind Hiccup and Toothless' smaller forms.
"Whoa, whoa, hold on! Torch is a wild dragon; he's more used to humans than most because I looked after him for a few days when he was a hatchling, but that doesn't mean you can ride him. That's not how this works."
"But your dragon is fair game, right?"
"No, not right. Toothless doesn't want to give anyone a ride, even if his wing was healed. I'm sorry, but I can't take you for a ride, any of you" Hiccup declared firmly. Everyone looked disappointed.
"When is"- Mik began, but he was cut off by a distant, yet alarmingly loud roar. Torch cringed at the sound, and hastily said *Sorry Hiccup gotta go bye!* He spread his wings wide, and Hiccup quickly ushered the kids away.
"Back up, guys, he needs space to take off."
Torch leapt, spun and spiralled up into the sky. Everyone oohed and aahed at the sight, and when the dragon had gone, someone pointed at the ground and cried, "Whoa, look at that cool burn mark!"
"Why did he leave?" asked Mik.
"I think his mother was calling for him" Hiccup explained, before asking, "So err, what were you saying?"
"Huh?" Mik stared blankly at him for a second before remembering. "Oh, yeah! I was saying, when is his wing gonna heal?"
"I was hoping it would be healed by now" Hiccup admitted. "Hey, bud, how's it feel?"
Toothless stretched his wing out gingerly, and tried to flap it. *It's better. Still kind of sore, though. I don't think I can fly on it yet* he admitted, with a frustrated moan. Hiccup sighed and stroked him comfortingly.
"It should be right as rain by sunset" he told Mik confidently…privately adding, I hope.
Thankfully, his prediction panned out. After a good long nap – they were planning a nightly ambush, so it only made sense to have a rest – Toothless' wing was much looser and Hiccup's head was much clearer. As soon as they realised they could, the pair were in the sky.
"I had no idea dragon's wings healed so quickly" Ormar commented, as he watched Hiccup and Toothless dart back and forth above the town. "They're quite impressive" he added approvingly.
"Yep, that's Hiccup and Toothless for you" Eret agreed, "Sometimes I think there's nothing the pair of them can't do together. I mean, they'd do anything for each other….we all would" he finished, with a pointed look.
Ormar replied, without taking his eyes off the sky, "Captain Eret, I know what you're getting at. I assure you, I have no want or need to betray him. Can you think of any such reason I would?" he challenged.
Eret frowned. "There are a lot of reasons a man might be tempted to betray" he said after a few moments, "For money, power, revenge…"
"I have money and power already" Ormar retorted, "and as for revenge, on whom? Hiccup Haddock has done nothing to me, and I hardly blame him for the war. Your suspicions are unfounded, captain. You'd do well to think before you judge others."
Eret glared at him. "Why you arrogant-!"
His indignant spiel was abruptly cut off as Sky Fire nudged him. The Spike-Tail wanted to fly and was trying to invite Eret along, although there was nothing stopping him from taking off on his own. Eret shot Ormar one last 'I'm watching you' glare, and mounted up.
In the air, they caught up with Toothless – for all of a moment, as the Night Fury swept through the sky, revelling in the full use of his wings. Their wings, for Hiccup was part of him; could they just stay here in the sky, as one, for the rest of the night? Or better yet, the rest of their lives?
*I think Eret wants to talk to me* Hiccup mentioned, seeing Sky Fire out of the corner of his eye as they sped past. He was enjoying himself as much as his dragon, but that wasn't really an excuse to be impolite.
*Eret can wait* Toothless retorted. Still, when Hiccup insistently tugged on his saddle, he reluctantly slowed to let Sky Fire catch up. When the Nadder came level with them, Eret called over, "Having fun?"
"You have no idea!" Hiccup called back, grinning. "What's up?"
"We are!"
"Alright, ha, ha. I walked right into that one, didn't I?"
"Actually, you flew right into it."
Hiccup face-palmed; Eret threw his head back and laughed. "Seriously, though" he said at last, once he'd caught his breath, "When you're done showing off, how about we gather everyone and go over the plan again."
"Alright" Hiccup agreed. He looked over his shoulder and saw that they were already quite a ways from the town. Then he shaded his eyes and peeked at the setting sun, emblazoning the sky in swathes of orange and pinkish red. *I don't suppose you want to go back yet* he guessed.
*Not really, no* Toothless replied. Then he glanced back at his rider, and sighed. *You want to land, though, don't you?* he added resignedly.
*Hardly…but we do need to go over the plan, and eat dinner. We'll be back in the air before you know it; and hey, you coped for the last couple of days. You can last a bit longer….we can race them back, if you want*.
*Alright, you win*.
"….Cup? Hiccup!"
"Huh?"
"You okay? You just zoned out on me there."
"Oh, sorry. I was talking to Toothless."
"Oh. Well, I was saying, when do you wanna head back?"
"We can head back right now…if you think you can keep up!" Hiccup laughed. Toothless swept around and zoomed back towards Smoking Bay; Sky Fire caught on and chased after him straightaway, their riders whooping with glee. In the air, Toothless-Hiccup were unstoppable and won easily; though Eret maintained that they would have won if he'd had a chance to feed Sky Fire some chicken.
Everyone gathered to discuss the plan. *You call it a plan* Toothless had remarked, *We dragons call it what it is – hunting. We're going to stalk our prey and ambush them, it isn't really hard to grasp*. Despite the sarcasm, he was proud of Hiccup for thinking of such a good plan; a dragonish sort of plan, in fact.
Everyone paired up; Hiccup with Eret, Tinni with his brother Uggi, Noam with Òskar, and the last three, Jorge, Aksel and Safira, as a trio. That left Alfgautr and Andvari, the only ones of Eret's crew that didn't have dragons, to tail the saboteurs from the ground.
Each group would keep an eye on an area that Hiccup thought might be a target for the saboteurs; the two storehouses, the docks, the market place and the training ring. That last was unlikely, but these seemed the sort of places someone trying to frame dragons would target. Ragnar had set warriors to guard the armoury and the Althing-House as well, in case the saboteurs got ambitious.
"Okay, so as soon as you see anything suspicious, keep watch and follow them but don't interfere. Find out where they're going, and then signal the rest of us. We'll surround them and take them by surprise" Hiccup explained, "any questions?"
Noam asked, "So, uh, why aren't we just waiting for the thieves on the ground and nabbing them there?"
"Come on, Noam, you're missing the bigger picture here" Eret told him.
"Oh…sorry, cap'n."
Hiccup explained, "We need them to lead us to wherever they've hidden the stolen food, and the only way to do that is tail them until they reach it. That's when we pounce – I mean, ambush them."
"What makes you so sure they have hidden the stolen food?" asked Alfgautr. "For all we know, they could have just dumped it in the ocean. That would be a much better way to cover their tracks."
"Well, then we'll follow them to wherever they're dumping it" Hiccup replied, "but I really doubt that's the case. Sabotage is one thing, but there's no reason for them to waste perfectly good food. So…are there any other objections to the plan?"
They all looked at one another, and shrugged. So long as they kept their wits about them, it should all go smoothly. "Trust me, you guys. It'll be easy as a glide."
"Easy as a glide, he says" Eret muttered, as Sky Fire circled the storehouse. "Boring as one, too, least this bit is."
Sky Fire croaked inquisitively at him, in the way Eret liked to think meant are you okay? What he wouldn't give to be able to understand his dragon the way Hiccup could…he leaned over to pat the Spike-Tail's neck reassuringly. "Ah, don't worry about me, pal. I'm fine."
He peered down through the darkness at the storehouse. There was nothing to tell it apart from the other buildings other than the thin plume of smoke rising from the chimney, around which Sky Fire and Toothless we're circling. The mouth-watering scent of smoked fish and sausage rose with the smoke, dissipating in the cool air.
They'd been up there for at least two hours, and there'd been no sign of anything untoward. By now Eret's cheeks had gone numb. He was just about to urge Sky Fire closer to Toothless, and suggest to Hiccup that maybe they should call the whole thing off – a theft happening two nights in a row had been a long shot anyway – when Sky Fire suddenly growled.
Eret looked down and spotted – finally! – the tell-tale flicker of torchlight. His dragon came into a hover in front of and above the storehouse door. Toothless caught up, and they watched as three men, their faces hidden beneath cowls, slipped inside.
They emerged not long after with bulging sacks slung over their shoulders. Toothless and Sky Fire followed them, the Night Fury with eyes made for the darkness and the Nadder tracking the faint scent of fish and fibre. They didn't go far – instead, more cloaked figures emerged to carry the sacks, one to another, down the long street to the docks as the first three went back for more.
The sacks were loaded onto a large boat. Eret's suspicions rose…but, he supposed, they could be planning to steal from more than just that one storehouse. When the rest of them had boarded, the ship rowed out of harbour and out to sea a little ways, before turning its port side to the coast. Struggling against the current, the ship made it's laborious way around the headland.
It moved towards a sea cave, that had been hidden behind the outcrop of rocks and below the high tide. The ship rowed through as the riders and their dragons watched silently from above. Hiccup and Eret had met up with Noam and Òskar at the docks. "So, uh, we going in?" Noam asked from Limestone's saddle, as the stocky green-grey dragon hovered in the air, wings buzzing.
"No; first we need to send the signal. Noam, Òskar, find Andvari and Alfgautr, bring them to the cave. Eret, you and Sky Fire wait here for the others; Toothless and I'll do a sweep and make sure there's no other way in or out of this cave" Hiccup instructed.
"You got it, boss."
"Alright, bud, do your thing" Hiccup prompted. Toothless craned his head back and fired a plasma blast almost straight up in the air. He flew over the cliffs, looking for any other tunnels or crevasses with his searching-roar. There was nothing but rock and the occasional hot spring all around and above the cave mouth.
They rejoined the others on the cliff above the cave. "Nobody's come out; they must have the ship moored up in there" Eret reported when they landed.
"We couldn't find anything; it looks like this cave is the only way in or out, so it'll probably be well guarded."
"Ah, it's nothing we can't handle" Eret smirked confidently. He turned to his crew and ordered, "Noam, Andvari, Alfgautr, you three stay here on lookout. Have Limestone come and warn us if any more ships turn up, and if we need help, go and warn Ragnar."
"High alert, guys; we'll check the coast is clear" said Hiccup. Toothless leapt and dived to the cave mouth. It was pitch black in there, but that was no problem for a Night Fury. *It's clear* he said, and Hiccup signalled to the others to follow just before they flew in.
The dragons held their fires in their jaws, lighting the cave up like daytime. The longship was tied up to a stalagmite, the prow bumping against the stone. The cave was deeper than it looked from outside, with staggered ledges and stalagmites. There were sacks dumped in a pile on the highest ledge, well out of reach of the water. The most notable thing, however, was that there was no sign of the saboteurs they had followed in there in the first place.
The riders realised this a split second before hearing a rattling and a loud splash, as a metal mesh fell down across the cave entrance. "Ambush!" Eret yelled, as arrows, darts and nets hissed through the air towards them from behind fangs of rock and dark corners.
The dragons dodged away in every direction, but in the confined space of the cavern they had little room to manoeuvre. Cinder burst into flames, but that only made her more of a target, as two nets wrapped around her and sent her crashing onto the stone. Aksel struggled to cut them both loose, but the nets were chain.
From the cliffs, the other three heard the commotion; Noam buzzed down on Limestone, who spat a globule of lava at the mesh. The metal glowed red with heat, but didn't break apart as they'd hoped, not even when Toothless fired a plasma blast at it. It was dragon proof!
"Go get help!" Eret shouted to Noam, just before Sky Fire had to spin to avoid a dragon-root arrow. "What was that about this being easy?!"
"What was that about 'it's nothing we can't handle'?!"
Safira cried, "Maybe we can get out underneath!" She urged Ruby into a dive into the sea, only to burst back out of the water moments later. "No good, it's too deep- agh! Ruby!" she screamed, as her Nadder was hit by several darts and drunkenly flapped to a crash-landing on the nearest solid surface, the deck of the ship.
"Land!" Hiccup ordered, "if we get hit and fall in the water, we're done for!" On the inside he was cursing – Isak and his saboteurs, but more than that his own stupidity. They'd been betrayed! Someone had tipped their attackers off about the plan, given them time to prepare this ambush. He'd led his friends right into a trap!
The dragons were fighting back, and the cavern was filled with bursts of plasma, spines being flicked from tails, streams of flame. Their riders drew weapons and rushed yelling battle cries at the thieves, only to be downed with well aimed and potent sleeper darts.
The darts pierced beneath the scales of the dragons as well, and too late Hiccup realised his mistake – in the air they were at risk of falling into the sea and drowning, but on land they were easier targets! It was too late; no sooner had Toothless landed than a bolas entangled his wings and front legs.
Hiccup was thrown off; he scrambled to his feet and moved to cut his dragon loose. Two enemies rushed at him from behind stalagmites, keeping out of reach of Toothless' flames, and he ignited Inferno, preparing to defend them both. He blocked the first attack, but – "Wait!" he cried out – it was hard to tell in the dark, but -"I know you! You're Ormar's guards!"
But of course, they were only a distraction; no sooner had he realised their identity, than he heard the telltale hiss of a dart. "Toothless!" He couldn't fight off two attackers and fend off the darts at the same time; he glanced back for just a moment, unable to stop himself, but that was all the time they needed. A sword hilt cracked down on his skull, and the whole world keeled sideways.
*Hiccup!*
"…Toothless…"
The saboteurs had not come away unscathed. Many were sporting painful burns or scratches from narrowly dodged Nadder quills. However, they had had plenty of darts – what both Tinni and Uggi had failed to mention, something they'd regret later, was that Iceland was home to a herb that was the main ingredient in a sleeping potion. Concentrated, just a few were enough to knock out a full grown dragon.
"Nice going, Isak" Nikolas said bitterly, limping, "we could have just dumped the fish, covered our tracks, but no, you had to get clever! Now what? As soon as they wake up, they'll be running right off to the chief and we'll be exiled before we can blink."
"The one on the other Gronckle got away" one of Ormar's guards pointed out, "he went to get help. We might not have much time."
"Well then let's not waste it" Isak glared at him. "Winch that mesh up again, and put the dragons on the ship, as many as will fit. Especially the Night Fury. We can sell them at Faroe. Well? What are you waiting for?"
"Sell them?"
"That, or ransom. If we're gonna be exiled, we might as well give ourselves a head start" Isak explained.
Several of the men looked perturbed. "Forget it, Isak. This has gone far enough" said Nikolas. He made his way towards a narrow tunnel in the back of the cave, easily missed in the darkness unless you knew where to look. "I'm going home. Have fun with your self-imposed exile" he added mockingly.
Some of the saboteurs followed his lead and left, hoping to sneak back to their homes and pretend none of it had ever happened. Most, however, stayed and started to do Isak's bidding. "What about the riders?"
"Leave them; except him" Isak ordered, pointing at the unconscious Dragon Whisperer. "He comes with us."
"Really?"
"Yes, really! He and his Night Fury are probably worth more than the rest of the beasts put together."
"So, you're doing this for money."
"It's not about the money! I will not live 'peacefully' alongside the creatures that took my brother from me. I won't insult his memory that way. If that means I have to be outcast, then so be it."
Even unconscious, the dragons were hard to move. It took all of them to shift the (relatively speaking) smaller ones below deck. They left the Monstrous Nightmare and the Zippleback; they were too big; and the ship rowed laboriously against the tide and out to sea.
Hiccup groaned...his head was killing him. He abruptly remembered why; the failed ambush (or not, depending on how he looked at it), getting knocked out trying to protect... A surge of panic sent his eyes flicking open wide, as he cried out, "Toothless!"
*I'm here, it's alright* his other half said reassuringly. Hiccup recovered enough wits to get his bearings; he was on a boat, below deck, in a cage. His wrists were bound behind his back, and there was a manacle around his right ankle. The chain had many coils. He got to his feet, walked unsteadily over to a corner of the cage, and peered through the bars.
Toothless was in the cage opposite him, then Sky Fire And Ruby on Toothless' right. Jorge's Hobblegrunt, Varikas, was in the cage next to Hiccup, and Kivia, Oskar's Gronckle, in the next. There was no sign of Cinder or Flash but the cages were only big enough for medium sized dragons, so it was possible they just couldn't have fit.
Here we go again. *I'm sorry, guys* Hiccup apologised, *this is all my fault*.
*No, it isn't* Toothless replied automatically.
*It is. I should have realised…that cave just screamed 'trap', but like an idiot I figured we'd be trapping them. We should have just tailed them and come back to whatever we found in the morning. Catching the culprits wasn't as important as proving the dragons innocent*.
Before the dragons could reply, they heard wood creaking, and somebody came down the ladder-like steps. Hiccup's mouth set into a hard line as Isak turned to face him. "You're awake, then" he noted. The dragons growled at him. He ignored them.
The first words out of Hiccup's mouth were "What did you do to my friends?"
"Nothing. They're still in the cave. Do you want to know why their dragons are here?"
Hiccup raised an eyebrow, and casually replied, "Don't tell me; you realised you'd be exiled, so you decided to get a head start, and you're planning to sell our dragons and use the gold to start over somewhere else."
For a moment, Isak looked surprised. Then he frowned and said sarcastically, "Well, aren't you clever?"
"Is this what Hafni would have wanted?"
Isak glared at him. "Ormar told me about your brother" Hiccup said calmly. "I'm sorry he's dead, but that is not my fault. If you want to blame anyone, blame Adulfr."
"Oh, I blame him too, but the war was waged against you, Dragon Whisperer. Do you know how Adulfr convinced us to follow him? He warned us that one day you would turn up and try to change everything, the whole way we lived, when you had no right" – his fists clenched.
"I made a mistake" Hiccup admitted, "I shouldn't have expected things to change, but seriously, sabotage? If you'd just told me how you felt, I would have listened!"
Isak visibly wavered. "Let us go, and I'll convince Ragnar not to exile you" Hiccup offered, trying to end it peacefully. He didn't have much hope, though.
"Oh, you mean like how you convinced him it would be a good idea to live with dragons, after everything they've done to us?"
"You can't blame all dragons just because-!" Hiccup gritted his teeth; starting an argument would get him nowhere. "I get why you captured them" he said, nodding towards the other cages, "but why am I here?" Not that he or Toothless were complaining; better they be kidnapped together than separated.
"A little bird told me you can understand dragons" Isak replied, "not that I believe it, but some people will believe anything- for a price. If you really do have such a gift, people would pay to have you translate for them."
Hiccup raised an eyebrow again. "You mean they'd pay you to have me translate for them" he retorted.
"That, or whoever I sell you to" Isak replied. With that he turned on his heel and strode away, climbing back up the ladder onto the deck. As soon as he was gone, Hiccup began thinking of a plan to escape.