"I'm bored...are we there yet?" Tuffnut asked, slouched forward on the horns of his dragon head.
"Does it look like we're there?" Astrid asked.
"Uh...maybe" Tuffnut said.
Snotlout rolled his eyes, "all I see is water...rocks...and oh boy more water."
Hiccup sighed, they had flown for hours, and so far no sign of anything at all. No island, no boats, no trace of their fathers or of Alvin.
"Where could they be..." he sighs.
Fishlegs slid his hand into his bag, pulling out the book of dragons. Snotlout noticed.
"You idiot, what did you bring that for" he snapped.
Fishlegs jumped a bit, almost dropping the book, "I thought is might be useful, with the Scauldrons and the Sharkworms...plus you never know what else Alvin might have up his sleeve."
"Exactly, so you bring the book...which he wants...right under his nose" Snotlout glared, "idiot."
Astrid sighed, "Snotlout is..partially right, is it a good idea to bring the book with us when we have no idea what we are even heading into?"
"To late to take it back now" Hiccup said, "besides, I think Fishlegs had good intentions...we may need the information inside it, but if things get bad..get the book out of there Fishlegs...promise?"
Fishlegs hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Hiccup was worried, his father and the others were in danger, and now they were flying off blind to go and help them out. Even worse, they had said nothing about leaving, Gober would surely know they were gone by now. What if his father and the others returned while they were out here? What if that had been Mildew and Alvin's plan, with the help of that dark viking...it was an option. Lure his dad out here, making Hiccup and the others worry, and they had to figure he would attempt to find out what was going on and come rescue him...what if nothing had been wrong, but Alvin had been planning on having Hiccup and Toothless come anyways. There were so many options, and none of them were looking good at all.
"Um...guys" Ruffnut spoke up, her eyes on the water below.
They looked down to see a huge shadow move under them from in the water.
"Scauldron" Fishlegs whispered, swallowing.
"I guess that means we're heading in the right direction" Hiccup said, "stay on guard, and close...we don't want to get separated."
The farther they flew, the more giant rocks and jagged ones they ran into. It was beginning to get late in the day to, and the dragons were beginning to get tired from the constant flying without a break.
"We should land soon" Astrid said, looking over at Hiccup.
He nodded, and looked around. On the horizon, he noticed a large rocky island beginning to come into view.
"Is that it?" Tuffnut asked.
"Maybe" Hiccup answered, "one way to find out."
They flew in closer, landing to allow the dragons to rest their wings. The shore of the island was odd, it was definitely a beach, but as Hiccup kneeled, he picked up a handful of sand. It was black. He raised an eyebrow, letting the small grains fall through his fingers. The water lapping at the shore, his eyes travelled up to the inner part of the island. There was perfectly green grass, and large trees, but in the distance, large black mountains loomed.
"What is this place..." Astrid said, though not really expecting an answer.
Hiccup stood, dusting his pants off, as his eyes moved back to the water's edge. It was then that he saw it, poking out from a bunch of sharp rocks over on the side of the shore. A large wooden dragon like head.
"The ship" he hurried over.
The others followed, and sure enough, it was a viking's ship, and not just any ship, one from Berk.
"Safe to say we're in the right place" Snotlout confirmed what they had already guessed.
"Problem is...where is the crew?" Astrid crossed her arms.
Hiccup ran his hand lightly along the side of the large ship. It looked perfectly in tact, so it was probably safe to say it hadn't been attacked. Hiccup looked around, but Astrid was right, there was no sign of the crew, of Thornado or his father.
"We have to split up" Hiccup said.
"What...are you sure that's safe?" Fishlegs asked, holding the Book of Dragons closer.
"We have no choice, we need to find them, and the longer we argue, the more they slip away."
"Hiccup's right...we can do this, we've always been able to get the job done" Astrid smiled a bit.
Hiccup was thankful for her support, "ok, Fishlegs, you and the twins stay here...you will have plenty of space, and no one can sneak up on you. Keep an eye on the ship, and if anyone comes back or you're in danger, send a blast of fire into the air and get out."
Fishlegs and the twins nod.
"Astrid, you and Snotlout are with me..we need to comb the island, see if we can find anything at all. If we run into trouble, we'll do the same" Hiccup was well aware of the danger in this plan.
They mounted their dragons again, and took off into the air. The island from above gave little away. The trees were thick and close together.
"We can't see anything from up here" Snotlout said after a while, motioning a bit with his hand at the trees.
"We'll have to go on foot.." Hiccup answered reluctantly.
They landed in the trees, and it was like someone had flipped a switch. Things got darker and a bit colder.
"If this is what it looks like when the sun is up, I'd hate so see after dark" Astrid said, wrapping her arms around herself a bit.
"I agree, so lets work fast, and get out of here" Hiccup said, walking forward.
It was a bit harder for the dragons to maneuver around, the trees not leaving much room. This would not be a good place for a dragon fight. No moving room, little light, and the slightest spark could set it all on fire. Did Alvin know all this and choose this area for that reason? He doubted it, Alvin wasn't the brightest at plan making most of the time but...it was a thought. They moved along slowly, doing their best to stay quiet. Hookfang was having the most trouble, being the largest dragon. His horns kept getting caught between trees.
"Come...on.." Snotlout said through clenched teeth, his feet on the tree trunks as he pulled on the dragon's horns.
The dragon roared a bit, shaking his head.
"Shhh...Snotlout" Hiccup hissed.
"So much for the quiet approach" Astrid rolled her eyes.
"Blam him" Snotlout said, tugging more on the horns, "I can't help he has a fat head."
Astrid sighed, and moved over to help him. Hiccup shook his head, looking around a bit as the other two dragons watched a bit amused. He noticed a light a bit aways, and slowly made his way through the trees towards it. It was a clearing, but not a natural one. The broken tree trunks and toppled over trees, accompanied with the kicked up waves of dirt gave it away.
"This had to have been Thornado" Hiccup smiled. He turned back to the trees, placing his hand to the side of his mouth, "hey guys...I think I found...something..."
His voice had gotten quieter, as he noticed a large man shaped shadow fall over him.
"Uh-oh..." he slowly turned, but saw little before a large sack was put over him.
He struggled, but could do little against the large strong arms holding him tightly.
"Let..me..go" he yelled, but his voice was muffled by the sack.
Whoever it is was running, and the journey was anything but smooth. Hiccup felt like a rag doll, being tossed around. He was tense, where was this guy taking him? Wherever it was, it had to do with Alvin, and it could not be good.
"Toothless!" he yelled, trying to at least alert his dragon, but he was unsure if the other would hear him.
After a bit, he was thrown onto the ground, which knocked the wind out of him. He felt a large knee pressing into his back, as his arms were grabbed and forced behind him.
"Ow, hey watch it" he struggled once more.
He was finally released, and pulled to his knees, the sack pulled off. His eyes closed for a moment as the light hit him again, flinching at how bright it was. Torches were lit all around, and he could see the shapes of men in a circle around him. They were laughing a bit, and as his eyes slowly adjusted, the ring parted in front of him. A large viking with brown hair and a large beard stepped forward. His yellow smile and the look in his eyes sent cold chills down Hiccup's spine. He glared, as the name slipped out of his mouth.
"Alvin"