Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD

Chapter Ten – Paths Converging

The sky was clear, the air crisp. The ocean stretched out as far as the eye could see, in every direction. A pod of Thunderdrums were breaching, churning the water as they surged up to breathe and slipped under the waves once more. Stormfly kept flying, although she hoped they would find land soon. Her wings were beginning to tire. She could feel Astrid getting fatigued as well.

"Easy, girl" Astrid murmured, patting her dragon's neck. "You can make it. The island that Snotlout mentioned can't be far now." He and Gustav had been on a scouting mission together, but they must have gotten on each other's nerves, because both claimed the other had ditched them. Personally, Astrid suspected Snotlout was the ditcher; it wasn't as if he hadn't done that before.

As for why the pair had been flying out beyond the Isle of Night…ever since they learned that the hunters who murdered Hiccup worked for this Drago Bludvist, two months ago, the riders had been trying their utmost to track him and his so-called dragon army down. One wouldn't think finding an army – or armada, more likely – would be too hard, but they'd had no luck so far.

Astrid refused to give up, though. She wouldn't rest until she took vengeance on Hiccup's murderers. She felt his absence keenly. Every time she went flying, she'd look over expecting to see him and Toothless gliding alongside her, only to be disappointed. The village seemed dull and lifeless without him, especially now that so many of the riderless dragons had abandoned Berk.

How much longer, Astrid wondered, before the whole archipelago felt his loss? So far only Dagur and Heather had learned of Hiccup's death, but Stoick could not hide the loss of his only son and heir forever. Word would get out, and what if it travelled further afield? What if more hunters out there realised that the one and only Hiccup Haddock the Third was dead, and the dragons had lost their greatest defender?

No. I won't let all his efforts go to waste. Hiccup had spent years trying to make the archipelago safe for dragons; to keep Berk as a harmonious place where humans and dragons lived in peace. They would keep his dream alive, defend the archipelago in his memory. If this Drago person thought that Berk would surrender in the face of his army of dragons, he had another thing coming.

"There it is!" cried Snotlout. Astrid startled; she'd honestly forgotten he and Hookfang were there. To be fair, she'd been…distracted, all morning. She looked up and saw some tall sea-stacks on the edge of a largish, hilly island, covered in orange-red tones from the autumnal leaves. "The hunters were on the other side of the island" he added.

"Well, let's rest our dragons first and then we'll check it out" Astrid decided. She wasn't holding out much hope; they were on the eastern side of the archipelago, as far from Myrkr as one could get without going to the mainland. The odds of these hunters knowing any from the west, or of Drago Bludvist and his army, seemed very slim. Still, it was the only lead they'd found for ages.

They found a stream not too far from the shore, and landed there. Hookfang dunked his jaws in the water as soon as Snotlout dismounted, and Stormfly wasn't far behind. "Attagirl" murmured Astrid, stroking her flank, "you did great, Stormfly. How's Hookfang?" she asked, looking over at him and Snotlout.

He looked from her to his dragon and back again. "He's thirsty." Astrid gave him a deadpan, you know what I mean glower. "What? He's fine. We've flown all the way out here and back to Berk twice now. I dunno if you noticed, but Hooky's wingspan is, like, twice the size of Stormfly's. No offence, Storm" he added, when the Nadder looked up from her drink to squawk indignantly at him.

Normally she enjoyed arguing with Snotlout, but this time Astrid decided to let it go. "Tell me more about these hunters you saw" she prompted.

"I didn't see much, but they've got a fort over there", he pointed in a vaguely south-eastern direction, "with dragons in cages. I saw net-launchers, a few catapults…the usual. But there's only, like, six of them. Kinda pathetic, huh?"

Astrid gave a noncommittal hum. "Unless they were sent ahead by a larger group to set up a base" she suggested. It was important they didn't let themselves be lulled into a false sense of security.

"Well, then they're about to find out why that is a really bad idea. Honestly, I'm just glad we finally get to see some action after all this 'covert' stuff" Snotlout remarked. "The whole 'being subtle' thing doesn't suit me and Hookfang."

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "No kidding" she said dryly. Ever since Hiccup died, she'd found herself being more sarcastic, as if she could fill the void his absence left by copying some of his mannerisms. "Just remember, we're not gonna 'go in, dragons blazing'…I mean, we are, but we need to question them about any ties they have to Drago's army" she reminded him sternly.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. I'll bet they'll be more than willing to talk after we've burned their silly little fort to cinders. I mean, they've built it out of wood." Snotlout scoffed at the obvious stupidity of these dragon hunters. "Idiots."

Astrid frowned. "Wooden fort or not, they've still captured and held multiple dragons" she pointed out, "which means this might not be as easy as you think. We can't underestimate these hunters, Snotlout. We have no idea what they're capable of. Taking chances could get you or me or both of us killed. Do you understand how important it is that we don't mess this up?"

She'd advanced on him without realising and he was on the verge of falling into the stream. Snotlout floundered and toppled backwards, but Astrid grabbed his outstretched hand before he could fall. "Thanks" he said gratefully when she'd pulled him back. "Don't worry, Astrid; nobody's going to die. We got this."

Astrid sighed. "I guess I got carried away. I just…after what happened to Hiccup…I can't lose anymore of you guys. If anything happened to you, I don't know what I'd…" She gasped when Snotlout placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I get you. The same goes for you, y'know?"

"Thanks, Snotlout. You're a good friend…even if you are a muttonhead."

"And you're a good friend, even if you are a control freak" Snotlout responded. Astrid gaped at him indignantly, but he ignored her. "Speaking of control freaks, Gobber has been driving me crazy. Not that he's controlling, but…ugh, you know what the worst part is about Hiccup not being here? I mean apart from everything. Gobber keeps comparing me to him. Not, like, out loud – but I know he thinks I'm not as good as Hiccup was. I can tell. He's always in a bad mood…"

Snotlout went rambling on, complaining about the workload Gobber lumped on him, and sure he knew the man was grieving Hiccup but that didn't mean he had to make out that Snotlout wasn't good enough, he was trying Thor damn it, not everyone could be as perfect as Hiccup had been…

"Stoick wants to make me Chief" Astrid revealed out of the blue.

"Um…that's, err…wow. Um…congratulations?" Snotlout said uncertainly. On the inside he was thinking Oh gods, if she becomes the next Chief, I'm doomed.

Astrid nodded slowly. "Yeah, it's…a huge honour. Of course, it won't happen for a while; we still need to deal with this new threat from Drago first. But, well, now that Hiccup is gone, Stoick still needs an heir…" She trailed off, thinking of the conversation she'd had with the chief before setting out on this mission.

/

Stoick was standing on the outcrops overlooking the village. Everywhere he looked, he saw his son's handiwork; in the network of water channels over the roofs to put out fires, in the feeding and grooming stations that were no longer frequented by so many dragons. The forge, packed to the brim with so many inventions to make Gobber's life, and building dragon saddles, easier.

He had stood here with Hiccup, so many years ago. He'd held the little boy in his arms. Stoick longed to do so again, just once more. He didn't look around when Stormfly landed nearby, and stayed silent when Astrid came to stand beside him. "Chief? Snotlout and I are going to investigate this dragon hunter camp he says he's found" she reported.

"Be careful" he insisted. Astrid could hear the worry behind the gruffness in his voice. If she had been finding it difficult without Hiccup, she could only imagine what Stoick was going through. The chief had always seemed larger than life; now, with Hiccup's loss, it was as if he had been diminished. He no longer walked tall with pride, but half-slumped with grief.

She nodded dutifully. "We will, Chief. Don't worry. I'll make sure Snotlout behaves; although, he did come back to warn us instead of trying to take on these guys himself" Astrid conceded. When Stoick didn't respond, she thought perhaps it was time for her to leave. "We're heading east, out past the Isle of Night" she informed him, just to be on the safe side. Then she went to return to Stormfly and meet up with Snotlout at the forge.

"Wait, Astrid." She paused and looked back at Stoick expectantly. He sighed. "I've been…I've been thinking. You have all the makings of a fine Chief…you're fiercely loyal to Berk and our people, you're a great warrior, disciplined, clever, honest, patient…" Stoick paused to take in her reaction. Astrid checked to make sure she wasn't gaping like a fish. This was not what she'd expected at all.

Then she realised he had paused to let her say something. Had she been about to say something? "I, uh…I'm not so sure about that last one, Chief. Besides, I'm a soldier, not a leader."

"But you can lead" he insisted, "or Hiccup wouldn't have made you his second-in-command. You could learn to be a chieftain. I can teach you." Astrid's eyes widened as she began to suspect where this was going. "I'm not as young as I used to be" said Stoick. Suddenly, the wrinkles around his eyes and the grey hairs in his beard seemed more pronounced than ever.

"I won't be around to lead Berk forever. I still need an heir, even though Hiccup is…is gone…" Stoick had to pause, and she could see the pain in his eyes. "I want that heir to be you, Astrid. You're family, and I can think of no-one better to take that mantle after I'm gone, than you" he told her, giving her a genuine smile. At least he tried to, but it probably didn't quite reach his eyes.

Astrid stared at him as if she couldn't believe her ears. "I…I have to go" she blurted out, stumbling back towards Stormfly. "But…I'll think about it" she promised quickly, before swinging herself up into the saddle. Stormfly took to the air and banked over the village; Hookfang surged up to meet her and the two riders set off, heading into the sunrise. Stoick watched them go, solemn.

/

"…Astrid?...Astrid!" She blinked and came out of her reverie. Snotlout was staring at her, half concerned, half impatient. "I said, do you wanna go smack some dragon hunter heads together?"

"Oh…yeah. Yeah, let's go." They mounted up and flew onwards. It wasn't long before the forest gave way to burned trees, a wasteland; Stormfly and Hookfang soared over scorched and blackened trunks, the only ones left standing.

Snotlout looked around at the destruction and stared. "Something's wrong" he declared, setting Astrid's teeth on edge. "This wasn't…the forest wasn't burned like this. And before you say anything, no, Hookfang did not accidentally set it on fire!" he insisted defensively.

"I didn't think so" Astrid snapped back. "Maybe there was a storm; lightning started the fire, and then the rain put it out" she suggested. It was as reasonable an explanation as any. What was less easy to explain, however, was what they found when their dragons rounded a sea stack and hovered in it's shadow, looking at where Snotlout claimed the hunter's camp had been.

A huge burst of spiky, blue-green tinged ice reared out of the water, like an enormous burst of water had frozen solid in seconds. Even from there, they could see the scattered remnants of a fort; now only broken wood and mangled iron. It was all jutting out from the strange iceberg, as if the ice had frozen around the fort. "Okay, that was definitely not there before."

"What could have done this?" Astrid wondered aloud.

"A Jotunn" answered Snotlout, promptly. Astrid shot him a sceptical look. "What? You asked what could have done this! A Jotunn could have!"

She rolled her eyes. Jotunn, indeed…then again… "Stay sharp" she warned, "Keep an eye out for survivors." Astrid urged Stormfly forwards; the Nadder flew towards the unnatural looking iceberg reluctantly. "Easy, girl…it's okay" Astrid murmured, stroking her dragon reassuringly. She too was unnerved by the sight; however it had happened, the ice was clearly a warning.

As they neared the iceberg, Astrid noticed a massive footprint in the silt of what was left of the peninsula's beach. Starting to reconsider the Jotunn idea. Distracted by it, her only warning was a shout of "Fire!" and the hiss of a net hurtling through the air towards them. Stormfly must have been distracted as well; instinctively she rolled to avoid the net, but Astrid was thrown from her shoulders and plummeted, screaming.

"Astrid!" cried Snotlout, urging Hookfang into a dive. The Nightmare snatched Astrid deftly in his claws and deposited her on the ground, before landing behind her and flaming up. Stormfly doubled back and alighted on her other side, tail lashing and spikes jutting out all along it. Both riders drew their weapons and faced off defensively against the three dragon hunters.

One of them, a man with striped blue tattoos on his chin, grinned cockily. "Well, look who's back! You're new. Better looking than the other one, and all" he remarked, eyeing Astrid in a way that made her want to kick him in the groin. To his men, for he was clearly the leader, Tattoo Guy declared, "Looks like our luck has taken a turn for the better, lads! And here I thought we might be going back to Drago empty handed!"

Did he just say…? "Drago?" she demanded at once, "As in Drago Bludvist?"

"Heard of him, have you? I guess that's why you lot decided to steal all of our dragons and blast our fort to bits" said Tattoo Guy, scowling.

"Yeah, look at it!" the shorter of the other two hunters said petulantly.

"Are you guys crazy?" Snotlout asked incredulously.

"We didn't do this!" Astrid protested, indignant at the accusation.

"Yeah! This freaky looking iceberg wasn't even here the day before when Hookfang and I were spying on you!"

Tattoo Guy looked at Snotlout as if he'd just caught the younger man out. Astrid had to resist the urge to facepalm. "Nice going, blabbermouth."

"…Oops."

"Dragon trapping is hard enough work as it is" Tattoo Guy complained, "without do-gooder dragon riders sneaking in to rescue them. You lot might have an ice-spitting dragon on your side, but we still have a quota to fill."

"Drago's expecting a new shipment of dragons for his army tomorrow."

"And he don't take well to excuses."

"This is what he gave me last time I showed up empty handed" said Tattoo Guy, tugging down his tunic to reveal a dragon hunter symbol branded on his shoulder. "He promised to be far less understanding in the future. So, look, this is nothing personal, alright? Just give us those dragons, nice and quiet like, and we'll let you have a rowboat to get home in." Stormfly and Hookfang snarled at the suggestion their riders give them up.

"Not happening" Astrid refused, unlimbering her axe and moving to defend Stormfly. Snotlout hadn't dismounted, but he waved his hammer threateningly at the hunters. "Where is Drago Bludvist's army hiding?" she demanded.

"You don't mess around, do you blondie?" Tattoo Guy smirked at her. Now she wanted to punch him in the face and kick him in the groin. And if he thought that would distract her from noticing his subtle nod to more hunters behind them, then he was sorely mistaken.

"That's Hofferson to you. Astrid Hofferson. And you are?" she prompted, running a hand over Stormfly's flank. To an outsider it looked like a mere stroke; but it was a signal they had worked out for themselves, that meant threat behind you. Stormfly clicked and shifted her weight to show she understood.

"Oh, where are my manners? I am Eret, son of Eret, the finest dragon trapper alive. Now, last chance. We need those dragons, and we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Hand them over."

"Eat yak dung" Snotlout retorted, eloquent as ever.

Tattoo Guy – or rather, Eret – shrugged. "Guess it's the hard way. Rush 'em, lads!" he cried out.

"Ambush!" yelled Astrid as Stormfly spun around and flicked her spines at the other three hunters trying to corner them. Hookfang breathed fire at the ones in front, forcing them back; Astrid vaulted into the saddle and shouted "Go, Stormfly! Now!"

She didn't need to be told twice; neither did Hookfang. Both dragons took off and spiralled up out of range. Far below, she could hear Eret yelling after them, something about Drago Bludvist coming for their dragons. Heart racing, she rubbed circles onto Stormfly's shoulder until they both calmed down.

"Great. This is just perfect" Snotlout grumbled, "We finally find some hunters who know about this Drago Bludvist guy, and you let them chase us off!"

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Snotlout, would you relax? I have a plan. I know exactly how we're going to find out where Drago Bludvist and his army is…"

/

A month earlier

Ever since Hiccup had fallen back asleep, after crying out the last of his strength, Toothless had maintained his vigil. He lay still so as not to disturb his other half, but his eyes were open and trained on the pulley-cage he could just make out beyond the bars of the cage they were trapped inside. His keen sense of hearing was tuned to the sound of monsters approaching, and the purr thrumming through his chest to soothe his dear one could swiftly become a growl.

In the cage across from them, the young Fire-Scale stirred. Blaze raised his head, eyes glinting in the moonlight that shafted down through grates too narrow to even push one's muzzle through. *Toothless? Why are you awake?*

*I'm guarding Hiccup. Why are you awake?* the black dragon asked, not unkindly. Blaze had been rather wary of him ever since they had been forced to fight, and Toothless didn't want him to feel even more uneasy.

*I can't sleep* Blaze whimpered, *I'm scared. I thought we were going to escape, but we didn't. Your human said we would! He lied to us!*

Toothless had to bite back a snarl. *Hiccup did not lie. I don't why the monsters knew, but Hiccup would never tell them. He was punished for it, severely.*

*But what do we do now?* Blaze questioned plaintively. *Are we going to try and escape again?*

Toothless considered it. He suspected that Hiccup would be too afraid to risk being raped again – and Toothless did not blame him – to come up with another escape plan, or even try the same one twice. After all, it might work if they took the monsters by surprise. He pawed over the idea, but then it occurred to him that the monsters were probably going to be more suspicious than ever.

The monsters couldn't keep their guard up forever, though. Sooner or later they would let it down, and a chance to escape would come. Toothless was sure of it. *Eventually* he said aloud, at last. *For now, we must be patient, and wait.*

*But I don't want to wait!* Blaze whined, *I want to go home!*

*And you will* Toothless insisted, *Just not yet. We're dragons, Blaze; we live for centuries. We have time. We can wait. One day, when the monsters aren't looking and the chance flies past, we'll pounce on it, and we'll be away faster than a Quick-Sting. I don't know when, or how, but we will get out of here.*

He sounded so confident – perhaps moreso than he felt – that Blaze believed him. *Well, if you're sure…I hope the chance comes soon* he moaned longingly, curling up to try and get to sleep. Toothless sighed. Me too, youngling. Me too.

/

Hiccup was used to waking at dawn by now, but this time he awoke even earlier; jerked into wakefulness by the nightmare reliving the worst night of his life. Disoriented and still half-asleep, he struggled weakly against the crush of the monster's bodies tearing away his clothes, rough hands groping at him, touching him, forcing themselves into his mouth and his –

*It's okay! Hiccup, it's okay* Toothless insisted, raising his paw and wing so that Hiccup no longer felt trapped. His other half squirmed and tried to roll over, crawl away, but the movement sent pain shooting through his legs and spine. He cried out and clutched blindly at Toothless' scales, chest heaving, heart thudding quick like the fluttering wings of a tiny Glow-Hide.

*I'm here. It's okay, I'm here, I've got you. Just breathe. Deep breaths* Toothless crooned encouragingly, forcing himself to breathe deep and slow in demonstration. Hiccup panted and shook all over. "T-Toothless…" he stuttered, whimpering. Toothless rocked him carefully in his paws and crooned to him. *I'm here. Just breathe, love. You're okay. It was only a nightmare.*

Hiccup had had nightmares before, ever since they were trapped here, but they'd never frightened him as much as this. Hiccup tried to match his breaths to his other half's, drawing in deep lungfuls and letting them out slowly. He rubbed his hands over every bit of scaly skin he could reach, driving it through his senses that he was being held by Toothless, not surrounded by monsters.

When he finally calmed down, Toothless carefully eased him out of the protective cocoon of his wings. He curled around Hiccup, using his tail as a makeshift pillow, and gazed down at him. Hiccup's face was flushed, and there were still faint tear marks running down his cheeks. *Hello* cooed Toothless, pupils so wide in adoration the green of his irises was barely visible.

Despite everything, Hiccup managed a tiny, weak smile. "Hey" he murmured. Toothless nuzzled him again. The female humans – they were not monsters, he'd learned from Hiccup, in a way they were slaves too – had tried to clean his other half, but he could still pick out the wrong scents of the monsters who had violated Hiccup. Worse still, they had washed away his own marks.

He wanted to replace them; to cover Hiccup in his scent and claim him. He was on the verge of doing so when he paused, tongue poking out of his mouth. *Can I?* he asked, glancing sideways at Hiccup, who loved him for it. "Go on" he gave permission, tugging the blanket down off his torso. Toothless ducked his head to tenderly swipe a soft tongue over Hiccup's heart and scar and brand.

Hiccup dozed, letting himself be groomed like a hatchling, undisturbed by the claws and jaws so close to his bare skin. The idea that Toothless would hurt him, even by mistake, was laughable. Even if he did, how could Hiccup resent him? Toothless was a dragon. Neither of them were bloodthirsty, but Hiccup was glad that Toothless killed the monsters who raped him. They had deserved it.

Only now did he remember something else about Toothless' rampage. "…Glow…" he mumbled. Toothless paused. *Say again?*

"Last night…you were glowing. Your spines were blue. At least…I think they were" Hiccup explained. It was all sort of fuzzy and he wasn't sure what he'd actually seen. He'd had other things on his mind at the time…

Toothless shuffled his paws awkwardly. *I thought I saw a blue glow too* he confessed, *and I felt…really hot. Like I'd set myself on fire like a Fire-Scale. I don't know what it was…it's never happened before.* They both pondered the strangeness of it. If they had both seen something, perhaps it was not imagined, but then what could it be?

"Fury's Fire" murmured Hiccup. Toothless' ear-flaps twitched and he grunted curiously. "We should call it that…whatever it is. The blue glow. Y'know, cos you're a Night Fury…" he trailed off, seeing Toothless' eyes gleam with amusement. "What?" he huffed, "It's a better name than 'weird blue glow'!"

*True* the dragon conceded, returning his attention to scent-marking Hiccup. The young man didn't complain about the saliva not washing off, or even that Toothless was just making him smell of fish (to humans, anyway). At this point the odour of raw fish was embedded into his clothing and he'd gotten so used to it, he barely smelled it anymore.

He sighed. Was this going to be his life now? To sleep in a cage, eat scraps, having to toil from dawn to dusk. It had only been a month. What would they reduce him to after a year? I have Toothless, and that's enough he told himself firmly. At least he had someone here who cared for him. Hiccup felt so homesick his heart ached. I just have to get through one day at a time.

He might have dozed off again, but he was woken by the familiar and dreaded sound of the pulley-cage rattling down. Toothless' gentle croons and purrs morphed into a low, dangerous growl. He moved to stand between Hiccup and the cage door, bracing himself and sweeping his tail around to bat away any darts. The cage thumped down. Footsteps approached.

The monster that stepped up to the bars held a bundle in his hands. He shoved it through the hatch; it landed and collapsed into a familiar dirt-brown tunic and trousers, and a wooden peg. "Time to get dressed, thrall" said Ugly. He took a blowpipe slung across his back and poked it between the bars.

"One wrong move, dragon, and you go night-night" he threatened Toothless, who was snarling at the blowpipe. Behind him, Hiccup tried to move again. It hurt. Wincing, he managed to drag himself into a sitting position. Even that simple act left him out of breath. "Come on, you little whelp, we don't got all day" grumbled Ugly, "you ain't getting special treatment just cos you got screwed last night."

Hiccup cringed. His shoulders hunched and he burned with shame. They all knew. "Toothless" he said hoarsely, "the clothes…"

Without taking his eyes off of the blowpipe, or letting up on his growl, Toothless responded *Just stay behind me. You're too hurt; you can barely move!*

"I'm sorry…I have to…"

*No! I'm not gonna fail again; I'm going to protect you if it kills me!* Toothless insisted. Hiccup could hear a whine creeping under his growl. *…Not for real. You know what I mean.*

Hiccup wished he could stay with Toothless…but whether they liked it or not, the monsters had power over them. They would knock Toothless out again and hurt him if he didn't obey. "Please, bud. I don't want to get in more trouble. There's no other way. I'm sorry." He didn't want to go, but he had no choice.

The dragon whined. *Don't go. I can protect you. I have to! I can't…I can't fail again* he whimpered, ear-flaps pinned back. Ugly didn't know what he was saying, of course, and misinterpreted Toothless' signals. "Ha! What's the matter, dragon? Scared of a little dart?" he mocked. Toothless snarled at him. *I am not scared!* he roared, furious. Ugly made to shoot a dart at him.

"Stop!" Hiccup cried out, still half-hidden behind Toothless. "Can you give us a minute? Please" he begged.

"Ugh, fine. One minute" Ugly warned, pulling back, muttering to himself about how Hiccup was wasting everyone's time playing nanny to a dragon.

Hiccup dragged himself to kneel beside Toothless, who kept his ears turned to the cage door even as he looked at Hiccup with large, sad eyes. *Hiccup, please* he whimpered, *Don't go. Just this once…don't leave me* he begged. Every time Hiccup was taken away from him, it hurt like ice inside.

"Oh, Toothless" murmured Hiccup, leaning in to press his forehead against the dragons'. "I know, bud. I don't want to leave you either…but they won't let me stay. It'll just make things worse if we fight." He knew how far he had fallen. When they'd first been captured, he'd been determined to resist the hunters attempts to break him. Now, after a mere month of drudgery and cruelty, he was tired and worn down by the effort. "I'm sorry, Toothless. I'm so sorry."

*…I can't protect you* Toothless realised, moaning regret and shame.

"You can" Hiccup whispered, clutching at his head, "just…not by fighting. We…we just have to get through one day at a time, okay? Please. I need the clothes…it's cold." He shivered. Toothless sighed mournfully, and used his tail to sweep the pile closer, spreading his wings to give Hiccup some cover.

Ugly came stomping back. "Time's up. You ready yet?" he demanded.

"Just getting dressed" Hiccup replied, pulling on the tunic. Ugly swore and thumped his fist impatiently against the bars of the cage. Hiccup flinched as if the blow had struck him instead. He struggled into the rest of the clothes, and used Toothless as a support to heave himself to his feet. It hurt to move. He panted and tried to take a step forward, only to stumble and cry out.

Of course Toothless caught him, and he felt a rush of strength flood his body through the heart bind. "Thanks, bud" he whispered, giving the dragon one more grateful stroke. Then he straightened and moved towards the cage door. "I'm ready…sir."

"Hmph. Took you long enough" Ugly grumbled as he unlocked the door. Hiccup stepped out and immediately cringed as if expecting to be struck, but instead the hunter just barked at him to hurry up. He followed Ugly into the pulley-cage and began heaving them up to the galley. Just get through one day at a time.

/

Hiccup had to bring Hauke breakfast, which meant facing the hunters. They jeered and made lewd gestures at him; he forced himself to ignore them, keeping his head down and repeating the mantra one day at a time. It was still a relief to get out of the mess hall with a covered plate and tankard.

Ugly knocked on the door to Hauke's cabin, since Hiccup's hands were full. After a moment the man called, "Come in." When Hiccup stepped over the rim of the door, he saw that Hauke was already dressed and seated at the table. What sucked about being watched every bloody minute was that he never got a chance to spit in Hauke's food, or upend the plate over his stupid head…

"Good morning, master" he felt himself say. It made him feel sick. He put the plate and the tankard into depressions in the table, made so that they didn't move about too much with the rocking of the ship. Then he retreated to stand by the far wall and wait for Hauke to finish, folding his arms defensively and staring at the floor. He swayed with the deck, barely noticing it anymore.

When Hauke was almost done, he looked up from a swig of ale and commented, "You should know that the Night Fury is to be denied food for three weeks, starting now."

Hiccup looked up at him in shock. "What?! That's not fair!"

"It is fair. The dragon deserves far worse."

"But he hasn't done anything!"

"Not done anything? That dragon rampaged through the ship, destroyed everything in its path, slaughtered three of my men" –

Something in Hiccup snapped. "He killed them because they raped me! And you let them! What, because I tried to escape? Of course I tried to escape, why the heck wouldn't I? I hate it here! I hate you! I don't want to be here, nobody wants to be enslaved!" he yelled, storming towards Hauke. By the time his rant was finished he was looming over the table, hands clenched into fists.

Hauke stood up and grabbed him by the tunic. His eyes were dark and dangerous. "I see we still have a lot of insolence to beat out of you."

Hiccup struggled and considered spitting in his face. "I promised not to try and escape. I didn't say anything about being your blindly obedient puppet-!"

Quicker than thought, Hauke was holding his throat with one hand and a knife to his eye with the other. "Blindly, you say? That can be arranged" he growled, pressing the flat of the blade against Hiccup's eyelid so his pupil flashed black. Hiccup froze. He didn't doubt that Hauke actually would cut out his eyeball as a cruel and unusual punishment. Slowly, he released his grip on Hauke's wrist.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry, master. Please, don't…" Before he could finish, Hauke lowered the knife and shoved him away. Hiccup staggered back. "Please, master…don't starve Toothless. He was just trying to save me. Punish me instead" he begged.

"Dragons can last a month or more without food; you wouldn't. This punishment is merciful. The usual penalty for murder is to be keel hauled; would you rather we did that to the Night Fury, or yourself, instead?"

Hiccup shivered at the mere thought. "No, master" he replied.

Sitting back down, Hauke declared, "The Night Fury will not be fed for three weeks, one week for every man he killed. That is final. And if you behave yourself, I might consider letting the dragon's punishment end early. But if you cause any more trouble, or if you sneak the dragon even a scrap of food…" he stabbed the knife down into a piece of white fish flesh. Hiccup flinched.

/

Onarr was already gutting the fish when Hiccup returned. He lowered himself onto a stool and picked up a filleting knife in his left hand. Under the cover of the usual bustle of the galley, without looking up from the fish he muttered, "I hope you're happy."

The other man didn't need to ask what he meant. "I had no choice" he retorted.

"You could have come with us."

"I might not have. I did what I had to."

"You betrayed me!" Hiccup snapped, glaring at him. "Damn it, Onarr. I was trying to help you."

"You should stop trying" Onarr said coldly. "You said it yourself – if I could get out on deck, you'd take me with you. If. Admit it; if I hadn't been there, you'd have just flown off without me, wouldn't you?"

"We would have come back for you" Hiccup tried to insist. "You didn't even want to try. You just wanna drag me down with you, make me miserable like" –

"Like me? Misery is better than pain. You think I want you to suffer? You were happy enough to leave me to be raped, again, or flogged, or have one of my eyes gouged out. Do you have any idea what Hauke would have done to me, if you had gotten away with all of the dragons?" Onarr demanded, glaring.

Hiccup briefly felt guilty; he had, in truth, not considered what might happen to the man if they managed to escape but Onarr didn't. "That wouldn't have happened if you'd tried to come with us" he protested, "The plan would have worked if it wasn't for you!"

Onarr shook his head. "There's no escaping Hauke" he declared fatalistically, "I learned that the hard way. I tried to warn you, but you just had to" –

"Of course I had to! I had to try, I promised the dragons; and unlike you, I have people who care about me to go back to."

"Then perhaps you should have thought of that before you left them in the first place" Onarr retorted. Hiccup burned with guilt and rage and self-loathing. All my fault. It's all my fault. It wasn't in his nature to hold a grudge, but all Hiccup could think was that Onarr knew how much he'd suffer if the escape plan failed, and sold him out just to save his own skin. All his fault. I'll never forgive him.

/

When he finally got back to Toothless that night, Hiccup slumped against his other half with tears in his eyes. *It's not your fault* Toothless crooned, feeling his beloved's guilt over getting him starved. What worried him most was not starving; dragons could sleep and save their strength in times of hardship. But that meant leaving Hiccup alone. *I love you, Hiccup. No matter what.*

Hiccup snuggled closer. "I know, bud. I love you too." He didn't know that Toothless would sleep, and the dragon didn't have the heart to tell him. Not right now. Instead he suggested, *I think we should form a mental bond. That way I can be with you even when I'm not…with you. You know what I mean.*

"What do we need to do?" Hiccup asked at once.

*I've asked the other dragons; none of them are heart bound, but they know dragons who are. They said we're supposed to breathe together, focus on the heart bind, and sort of…fall into it? Or let it pull us in…* Toothless snorted in frustration. *It's hard to explain. I think we need to intend to merge our minds.*

"Merge?" Hiccup asked doubtfully, "Wouldn't that mean we'd be reading each other's minds all the time?"

*No; maybe that was the wrong word. From what I hear, it's more like…when we fly, we have two different bodies, but we still become one* Toothless tried to describe it. They both gave a longing sigh at the thought of flying together. *We'd be able to project thoughts to each other; we could think-speak in secret, even share dreams.* That was the part he wanted to figure out the most.

"Okay. Let's try it" Hiccup said gamely. Resting against Toothless' flank, he closed his eyes and felt the dragon breathing, began to breathe with him. He concentrated on the warm gentle pressure of the heart bind in his chest, imagining himself sinking into it, thinking of merging his mind with Toothless…

"Hiccup?"

"Oh, what now?" he moaned, exasperated. Toothless snarled at the interrupter, only to stop when he saw who it was. "What are you doing down here?"

Adulfr, on the other side of the bars, fidgeted awkwardly. "I'm bored" he said.

Hiccup's eyes narrowed. "I'm tired. Adulfr, go back to bed."

"You can't talk to me like that!"

"Alright. Adulfr, sir, please go back to bed" Hiccup said sarcastically.

"But I wanted to" –

"You know what I want to do?" Hiccup snapped, losing his already frayed patience. "I want to see my dad again. I want to go flying with Toothless and our friends. I want to go home" he said desperately. "But most of all, I want to sleep. You shouldn't be here, Adulfr" he declared, turning his back. "You're the son of a chief, you shouldn't be talking to a thrall."

There was an indignant silence from behind him, and then… "Fine. Have it your way, thrall. I was going to ask you about the dragons you've trained, but like you say, I shouldn't be talking to the likes of you" Adulfr sneered. Then he left. When he was gone, Hiccup buried his head in his hands. What have I done?