Snotlout, Astrid and I soared over Healer's Island, looking around for any sign of the Outcasts or Berserkers. Thankfully, we found nothing.
"I don't see anything here," Snotlout spoke for the first time since we left Berk. "Maybe we could head to some other island and look around there."
"Maybe," I agreed with a slight shrug. "Let's just look around a little bit at some of these sea stacks and see if any of the ships are hiding from view."
We split up into three groups (one person each) without another word elsewise, soaring directly over the ocean on our dragons in search of enemy troops. We found nothing of significance, and after about ten minutes, met up again.
"So, let's get to the next closest island," I said. The others nodded without argument and we were off.
We searched, looking over the ocean for any sign of Alvin the Treacherous, or Dagur the Deranged. After finding yet nothing still, we continued on towards Outcast island itself.
As we headed that way, we continued to look down for any sight of any ships at all. I was just about to call out and say that there was nothing, when I suddenly saw something strange.
"Is that an Outcast ship?" I asked, pointing in the direction the object was. It was a black dot, moving across the ocean swiftly.
"I'm not sure," Astrid said. "Let's get a closer look." We headed in the direction of the ship, keeping close to the ocean in an attempt to not be seen in case was something we had to worry about.
I gasped once we reached it. "An Outcast ship," I said.
"And it looks like they're heading in the direction of Berk," said Snotlout.
I was about to agree, when I really looked at which direction the ship was heading. "No, wait a minute…" I hesitated. "It doesn't."
"What do you mean?" Astrid asked.
Instead of answering, I simply pointed out into the distance, where came into sight, a large, blue sea stack like area that looked remarkably like…
"Oh no," I muttered under my breath, intending and hoping that Snotlout and Astrid didn't hear me. They heard me, obviously, because they both started talking and asking questions at once.
"What?" they whispered in unison. "What is it?"
"That's the place we re-froze the Skrill," I explain. "You two weren't here, but the twins and I locked the Skrill here again so it couldn't get out and wreck havoc, and so the Outcasts and Berserkers couldn't use it."
"And...the Outcasts are heading straight for...oh no," said Snotlout, looking to me frantically. "I think I know what you're getting to, Hiccup. You can't be serious...can you?"
I nodded. "I hope I'm wrong, though," I admitted.
"What do we do?" asked Astrid.
"We have to stop them, if they're going to start trying to free the Skrill," I said. "We can't have a repeat of the last time the Berserkers tried to get that dragon."
And so we headed in that direction, straight towards the Outcasts ships while at the same time keeping a safe distance.
We watched from above and moved our dragons over the ship, watching the Outcasts as they scurried about madly. I frowned as I spotted Alvin the Treacherous; leader of the Outcasts. Alvin; the same Alvin who tried to kidnap me every single chance he got. The same Alvin who had been banished from Berk because of his treachery. The same Alvin who called me the "dragon conqueror" and always tried to get me to train dragons to use against Berk.
"Yeah, they're heading to the ice thing," Snotlout whispered, breaking me from my thoughtful remorse. "What's the plan, brainiac?"
"We have to stop them, either way," I replied. "Come on. Let's see if we can't get to that ice block before they do."
Astrid and Snotlout followed me as I raced forward on Toothless, flying straight up to keep from being seen, and then heading for the stack of ice jutting out of the ocean, almost like a mountain. Just before we get there, I gasped.
I yanked on Toothless' saddlehorn, the dragon coming to a complete stop. Astrid and Snotlout did the same thing beside me, looking at me in confusion.
"There are Outcasts already there," I said as they opened their mouths to ask me what was wrong. "And…" I swallowed hard. "It...it looks like they're already done freeing the Skrill."
As if on cue, lightning lit up the sky, and I winced. Astrid and Snotlout gasped as roars of fury filled the air, the noise ringing in our ears.
"What do we do now!?" Astrid looked to me frantically for an answer I didn't have.
"We have to do something," I decided on saying. "Snotlout and Astrid, you two get rid of the Outcasts. I'm going to try and get rid of that Skrill."
"Careful," said Astrid. "Lightning is attracted to metal. And you two-" She looked at Toothless' tailfin, and then to my prosthetic, "-are wearing a lot more metal than the rest of us."
"I'll make a note of that," I said offhandedly. "Don't get captured by the Outcasts, whatever you do." On that cheery note, I flew Toothless straight towards the stack of ice while Astrid and Snotlout turned to face the upcoming Outcasts.
The Skrill was standing, ropes hooked around its body to keep it from flying away. It roared in fury, the sky alighting with lightning once more as it released its fury. Toothless spun out of the way just before we were blasted out of existence.
The Outcasts on the mound of ice were trying to keep the Skrill at bay, but it obviously wasn't working. So, I used that to my advantage.
"TOOTHLESS, PLASMA BLAST!" I shouted. Toothless quickly obeyed me, firing straight at the Outcasts that were holding the Skrill down. The Outcasts dove for cover, releasing the Skrill and ducking, their hands on their heads. The Skrill roared, and was just about to fly in the opposite direction, when Toothless stopped him with another plasma blast.
The Outcasts were retreating, but the Skrill wasn't. Enraged at me and my dragon, he flew straight for us, roaring like mad. I took a deep breath, and then Toothless dove straight towards the ocean, the Skrill in close pursuit of us both.