Author's Note: I received a nasty review on my last chapter. However, I refuse to let one flamer stop me from completing my story. This story shall be finished and I intend to write more after this one, including the ones I have in progress. I hope that everyone enjoys this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Let's Make a Deal
Hiccup and the dragon riders glared as they watched the hunters surround the Buffalord. Hookfang, out of concern for his rider, spread his wings to shield Snotlout and stood up on his hind legs and growled at the hunters. Viggo merely smiled at the group; specifically Hiccup.
"Well hello, Hiccup. Thank you so much for this gift," said Viggo. He then made a mock sad face and gestured to Snotlout as he added, "I do apologize that you won't be able to use it to save your little friend."
In response, Hiccup and Astrid mounted Toothless and Stormfly and prepared to attack. Fishlegs stayed by Snotlout and tried to figure out how the hunters could have found that island.
"But how?" Fishlegs asked, "There's no trace of this island anywhere. How did you find it?"
"It doesn't matter right now," said Astrid, "We have to stop them before they make off with the Buffalord. If we lose the dragon, we lose Snotlout."
Astrid and Stormfly then took to the air and shot multiple spines at the hunters. Hiccup decided to help out as well and had Toothless fly up and start fighting. While some of the hunters fought back, a few others loaded the Buffalord onto a large cart that they brought for just the occasion; the dragon, of course, was unfazed by what was going on. Hiccup and Astrid saw this and had Toothless and Stormfly fire warning shots at the hunters.
"Show no mercy!" Viggo ordered, "But safeguard our prize."
The twins climbed onto their dragon and took to the to join the fight, leaving Fishlegs to tend to Snotlout, who was starting to grow worse. The hunters fired their crossbows, which were loaded with Dragon Root arrows, at the riders. Unfortunately, the riders proved to be more agile as they dodged the arrows. Stormfly shot back with fire only for the hunters to roll out of the way just in time. Stormfly shot spines at them and got a similar results.
"Hiccup, I can't get a clear shot!" Astrid called.
The hunters did manage to shoot down Barf and Belch and went after them and Ruff and Tuff. Luckily, Hiccup had Toothless fire a plasma blast at the hunters to protect the twins. Hiccup them noticed how close the hunters were to the Buffalord.
"Riders, pull up!" Hiccup called to his team, "We can't risk hurting the Buffalord. We need it."
The dragon took advantage of the riders unwillingness to harm the dragon and circled around it, making impossible for the dragon riders to attack them without harming the Buffalord.
"Viggo, release that dragon," Hiccup demanded, "You have no idea what you're doing."
"Oh, I beg to differ, Hiccup. I am keenly aware of my actions," Viggo said with a smirk. He casually walked to the dragon and pat it on the side as he further explained, "This dragon is exceedingly unique. It will elicit a considerable bounty on the open market."
"Viggo, that dragon is my cousin's only chance at survival," said Hiccup, hoping to reason with Viggo.
"Oh, that's your cousin?" Viggo asked, looking over in Snotlout's direction. He then turned back to Hiccup and said, "Well then, if you care for him so much, you should've kept a better eye on him. My fishing boat was no place for him, you, or any of your riders."
"Your fishing boat?" Hiccup asked.
"You mean those people on board, the ones who died of the scourge. They were your men?" Astrid asked, "You left that boat out there on purpose?"
The hunters then loaded the dragon onto the cart to transport it to the ship. Viggo smirked at the scene as he explained to Hiccup and his friends, "It's simple really: supply and demand," he gestured to the Buffalord and then to Snotlout as he said, "I knew where to get the supply, if only I could generate the demand."
Astrid gasped at what Viggo said, while Fishlegs glared at him and said with a voice filled with venom, "You're a monster!"
"Yeah, man," said Tuffnut, "This is sick, even for you."
"I wouldn't exactly say 'monster' or 'sick' per say," said Viggo, "I prefer 'savy business man who does whatever is necessary to stay on top'. But, hey, that's me."
"And what if the dragon had been extinct?" Hiccup asked, his hatred of Viggo steadily growing.
"I tend not to dwell on 'what-ifs'," Viggo casually answered, "It leaves you barren. All I can say is that it wouldn't have been my loss."
Hiccup shot Viggo a death glare when he said that. Snotlout, a person, is dying and Viggo is acting like it is not a big deal! Hiccup knew Viggo was ruthless and crafty, but he had no idea he was that heartless! In that moment, Hiccup decided that he could no longer stand for this.
"That's it," Hiccup growled, "Toothless..."
Toothless got ready to fire a plasma blast at Viggo, who did not even look fazed. He simply turned to his brother and said, "Ryker."
Ryker held his sword close to the Buffalord and raised it up, ready to strike at any moment.
Hiccup saw this and screamed, "No!" Toothless immediately stopped his attack.
Viggo looked up at Hiccup and said, "I'd think twice about my actions if I were you, Hiccup ."
"And your profits?" Hiccup asked, reminding Viggo of what he would lose.
"As I said before: business is business," said Viggo, "This is a loss, but it's a loss I'm willing to incur. The question is, are you?"
Hiccup started thinking over the choices in his head. If he gave them the dragon, the dragon could end suffering a fate worse than death. However, if they tried to take out the hunters, they risk hurting or killing the dragon; assuming Ryker did not kill it first. Hiccup then heard a moan and looked to see Snotlout even worse than before. It was then that Hiccup knew what he had to do.
"Okay, Viggo, you win. Take the dragon," Hiccup said in defeat, "But let us have what we came for: the Buffalord's saliva. It's the antidote for the Scourge of Odin. I'm not leaving here without it. That's a loss I'm not willing to take."
"No, Hiccup..." Snotlout called in a weak voice as he reached out to his cousin, "Don't do it. Not for... Not for me... I'm not worth it."
Everyone was shocked at what Snotlout just said; he just told his cousin that he was not worth saving! How could he say such a thing about himself? Everyone wondered. However, they would have to discuss that later, because, at the moment, they had another matter to deal with.
"Do we have a deal? Or are we both leaving here empty handed?" Hiccup asked, "Your call."
Viggo pondered the choices for a bit. Hiccup was allowing him to just take the Buffalord and all he asked in return was the saliva to cure his cousin; in other words, both sides benefit. Seeing no real downside to the deal, Viggo gestured for Ryker to remove his sword and Ryker obeyed. Seeing that it was now safe to collect the cure, Hiccup landed Toothless, dismounted, and approached the Buffalord.
Viggo smiled at Hiccup and said, "I truly missed our time together, Hiccup. My brother leaves something to be desired in many ways."
Ryker growled at his younger brother, obviously offended and annoyed; if they were not brothers, Ryker would beat him over the head.
Hiccup simply ignored the brothers and focused on collecting the green saliva into his cup. Once he was finished, Hiccup stood up and made his way to his dying cousin. Viggo, being himself, could not resist getting one last shot in.
"Don't look so glum, my boy," he said as Hiccup brought the cure to Snotlout, "It takes the fun out of it. Alls well that ends well. Hmmm?"
Hiccup finally made it to Snotlout and held the cup to his mouth. Snotlout drank the saliva, making faces of disgust as he did so. After he forcibly took a few sips, Snotlout felt himself changing. His strength was returning and his skin complexion was changing back to normal.
"Hiccup... I think... I think... " Snotlout said as he smiled.
The team realized immediately that the cure was, indeed, working and started cheering. Snotlout slowly started to stand up, shaking a little as he was still recovering. Hiccup caught his cousin just before he fell over and hit the ground and helped him walk over to Hookfang. Said dragon purred as his rider hugged his snout; he was so relieved that Snotlout was going to be alright. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the site. The moment was ruined when Viggo spoke up.
"I'm afraid our time together must end for now, Hiccup," Viggo said, gaining the attention of the riders, "But, fear not, for we will continue our contest in due time. Until then, dear boy, farewell."
And with that, the riders watched as Viggo and his hunters retreated back to their ship, the Buffalord in tow. All they could do was watch as the hunters loaded their prize onto the ship and then set sail.
"He won't get far," said Tuffnut, balling his fists in anger, "Let's go get him!"
"I'm with you, bro," said Ruffnut, standing next to her brother, "We'll show that smug jerk what happens when you mess with one of us!"
"No," said Hiccup, "Let him go. The agreement was that if we get the cure then he leaves with the dragon."
"Hiccup?!" Astrid exclaimed, "After what he did to Snotlout, you're just letting him get away with it?! Are you serious?!"
"I didn't say that," said Hiccup, "But do any of you remember what happened when we tried to take the dragon away from this island?"
"How could we forget?" Fishlegs asked, "I was scared for myself and my Meatlug!" His eyes went wide as he realized what Hiccup was saying, "Oh."
Hiccup smirked as he said, "Those hunters are in for a big surprise."
On the dragon hunter ship, Viggo stood proudly on the bridge. He was quite pleased with himself; he acquired a unique dragon and all it cost him was a saliva sample. Ryker joined him on the bridge and appeared to have some good news.
"The beast has been secured in the transport ship," Ryker informed his brother.
"Excellent," said Viggo. He looked back at the island for a moment, expecting Hiccup to give chase, only to see nothing, "A bit disappointing. But he is a man of his word. Something to admire about that-"
Before Viggo could finish his sentence, he and Ryker heard a loud thud. Suddenly, without warning, something broke through the deck. Viggo rushed to see what was going on and saw the Buffalord, now bigger and more aggressive, breathing fire everywhere and causing massive damage to the ship. If this kept up, they would all die here at sea!
"Hiccup. He knew this would happen," Viggo hissed. He turned to his hunters and yelled, "Release the beast! Release it before it kills us all!"
The hunters obeyed and removed the chains they had used to secure it. However, the dragon began to take flight before they could remove the last chain. This caused the boat be pulled into the air until Ryker cut the chain with his sword. The brothers watched as the dragon flew back to the island.
"So, we're just letting it go?" Ryker asked, "After all we went through to get it?"
"We have no choice, brother. That creature is far too dangerous to transport. We would have been dead had we kept it," Viggo reluctantly admitted, "We lost today. But, mark my words, Hiccup Haddock will pay dearly for this."
As soon as it was free of the hunters, the Buffalord flew back to it's island. Once it was close enough, the dragon relaxed and shrank back to regular size as it landed on the ground.
"Good to see the big guy back home," said Astrid, "I can't believe we forgot how aggressive it gets when taken away from here."
"Must've been the panic," said Ruffnut, shrugging her shoulders.
"Yeah, I was so panicked I forgot how to spell "dimwit"," said Tuffnut, "Does that word have one or two T's?"
Everyone ignored Tuffnut while Snotlout, who was slowly regaining his strength, asked, "So, what's stopping Viggo from coming back to try again?"
"The fact that he'll just get the same result as this time," said Hiccup, "From his point of view, the dragon is useless to him."
"That's good," said Snotlout, relief in his voice. He looked at the dragon and said, "I'd hate for anything bad to happen to one of the ones who saved my life."
Everyone smiled at the Buffalord and then turned serious as Hiccup said, "That leaves just one thing left to do."
With that, everyone mounted their dragons and took to the air, leaving the Buffalord to graze in peace. Hiccup had offered to give Snotlout a lift back to the Edge on Toothless, but Snotlout assured him that he would be fine on Hookfang. As they all flew together, none of the other riders stop thinking about what Snotlout said when Hiccup offered to let Viggo take the Buffalord in exchange for the cure; "I'm not worth it." That was what he said. Why would he say such a thing? They wondered. Hiccup himself made a mental note find out.