Chapter Seventeen

Hiccup shook his head, peering out at the sea with his spyglass. The sun was setting, and the sky was turning fire orange. Had it been any other day, everyone would have enjoyed the beautiful sight; but, it was anything but another day.

Letting out a long sigh, he folded his spyglass and turned to Heather. "Are you sure she said she'd be coming?"

Nodding with an annoyed expression, she rolled her eyes as she answered the same question for the hundredth time. "That's what she said. She was hired as a hunter to raid an island of dragon sympathizers."

"Being us." Astrid summed up, walking Stormfly next to everyone. Sitting on her dragon, she too scanned the horizon for any sign of a ship or raft.

"You didn't see anything on your patrol?" He asked, looking up at her with worry.

Shaking her head, she then slid off her saddle. "Nothing but ocean and clouds. Even the back cove where they could hide a ship was empty."

"Great…she could be anywhere now. For all we know, she's in a cell and captured by Viggo."

"You think he knows she's still alive?"

"I hope not, but it wouldn't surprise me." He huffed, running his hand through his hair as if to shed off the stress. "Viggo's always a step or two ahead of us. We know that, but for Teeth, it's still something she's getting used to."

"And I think she's still running on vengeance." Heather added, frowning at the thought. "She just wants to find Viggo and kill him herself. Why else would she commit herself to working for the Hunters?"

"You think she wants to join them?" Fishlegs asked, looking at Hiccup with a worried expression.

"You're kidding right, Fishlegs?" Astrid quickly fired back. "Viggo killed her dad. Her men! He took away everything in her life and the chance to become chief of her clan! Basically handing it all to her brother." Turning to Hiccup, she adamantly reinforced the thought. "She isn't working for them. She's just desperate to find the Hunters."

Hiccup stroked his chin, debating something in his head. "Heather, what direction did they head when they left?"

"West. At least that was where they were going before I stopped tailing them to fly back here."

Hiccup looked at her with some alarm, making everyone slightly panic.

"What're you thinking?" Astrid asked.

"Why west? We're south east of that island." He began to explain, jogging to the clubhouse. "That doesn't make sense for them to go that way."

Fishlegs shrugged at the observation as he and everyone followed him inside. "So what? Maybe they went to another island to get ready to raid us."

"Not if they hired her to act alone. They would have gone straight to her job they hired her for!" He quickly rebutted.

"That's what she told me too. They were taking her right to where they needed her." Heather added, also sounding worried at the thought.

Hiccup turned and ran to the club house, letting the others trail behind him. As soon as he ran in, he blew past the twins and went straight to a map hanging up. Snatching it, he quickly laid it out on the central table. Staring at the island, he used his finger to follow the route west, which led to nothing but blank parchment.

"Nothing. We haven't explored that far yet." Astrid whispered worriedly.

"Snotlout and Astrid, you're with me. We're going to try and find her. Heather, Fishlegs and twins, you stay here with Gobber just in case she does arrive here."

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Snotlout replied nonchalantly. "Only if I'm the one that saves her."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." He replied while rolling his eyes.

Astrid shouldered her axe as she stared at the blank section of the map. "I'm ready to go, Hiccup."

"When you find her, tell her I'm going to kill her when she gets back." Heather growled.

"Don't worry. She'll have an earful from all of us." Hiccup replied, walking over to Toothless. "Just keep an eye out for her in case she does show up, okay?"

Fishlegs gave him a thumb up and a reassuring smile. "You got it, Hiccup!"

"You guys ready?" He asked, seeing both Astrid and Snotlout climb on their dragons.

"Ready, Hiccup!"

"Come on! We're wasting time in where I prove to her that I'm her knight in Gronckle Iron!"

"Alright, bud. Better go help her out again." He groaned, letting Toothless launch into the air.

Both Astrid and Snotlout followed, flying towards the setting sun since it was literally the direction they needed to go, being west. As the three continued to glide, the thought of Teeth and her welfare were fresh in their minds; well, except Snotlout, who was giddy with the thought of finally having a chance for Teeth to like him.

"Hiccup, I have a question." Astrid called out, letting Stormfly glide alongside Toothless.

"Yeah?"

"Heather said that Teeth was hired to raid a dragon sympathizing island, right?"

Seeing the point she was making, he nodded his head and waited to hear her thoughts.

"Who else out there cares about dragons?" She asked, looking concerned at the thought. "If there's another tribe like us, I wonder if they're having trouble with Viggo like us. Or if Viggo's been after them instead, trying to hide from us until he's ready."

"That's a thought. And if we find them…then we would both have reasons to team up against Viggo." He said aloud, letting the wheel turn in his head. "And we won't let anything happen to them like Talen and his men."

"Or Teeth…" She whispered, frowning at the thought. "I hope she doesn't do anything stupid. If she actually raids that island, it's going to be hard to defend her and prove that we're friends."

Hiccup's face hardened at the thought. "Let's hope that's not the case. Though let's not bank on that. We don't even know if she's going to a different island. She could be preparing right now. She could be part of something bigger. Maybe a group of mercenaries or sells words."

"Which means I'm going to help Heather beat her. She shouldn't have jumped in that deep! Especially while she just barely started to move around."

"I won't let you touch her!"

Both Hiccup and Astrid turned to see Snotlout fuming at them. "I'll fight both of you to protect her!"

"Ugh, Snotlout…" Hiccup groaned, shaking his head. Guiding Toothless to speed up, he then led the three towards the setting sun. "Come on. Let's focus on covering some ground and finding where she went."

"Wake up, sell sword."

Groaning, Teeth slowly opened her eyes. Gripping the handle of her longsword, she slowly looked up and glared at the man who had recruited her.

"We've just arrived." He growled, gesturing to something in the distance.

Letting out a long sigh, she rolled onto her knees and stood up. Seeing what he was gesturing to, she frowned at the sight. A large volcano was billowing deep, black smoke. A few lights could be seen in the dark night, signaling that there was a village there.

"Caldera Cay. The graveyard for a few Dragon Hunters." The man explained, frowning at the sight. "Queen Mala is merciless towards our kind. When you get her, don't be kind to her."

"How will I know who she is?" She growled, trying to cover up her nervousness.

"You'll know when you see her."

"Ugh, go to Helheim!" She snapped, glaring at the man. "I thought I was going to be hunting dragons. Not killing royalty. You lied to me. And now you're giving partial information for my mission! You're an idiot if you think I'm going to kill a queen that I don't even know who she is or what she looks like! On an island that apparently has a history of executing Dragon Hunters!"

"I never lied to you; I just never told you what you were going to be doing." He replied quickly. "If you want, I can end our agreement. Toss you over right here."

Teeth glared at the man. "Whatever Viggo is offering for this queen's head. I expect double in return. If not, I'll make sure you're dead before the weeks' through."

The man frowned at the threat, knowing that even if she was a new recruit, she had no comradery with him or any of the Hunters with them.

"Give me a spear. I'll need it just in case I have to hit her from afar."

Grunting, he turned to a single Hunter and gestured to her. The Hunter quickly walked over to a rack of weapons, looking for spear that didn't look too dull.

"Do you even care for your weapons?" She asked, watching the Hunter full on grab a spear head with his hand without cutting himself.

The man didn't say anything. It was clear she wasn't impressed with them since signing on. Something he was sure she was going to complain to Viggo the moment she met him.

Walking up to the rack, she snatched a random spear and a small stone at the base of the rack. "I expect some answers when I get back. Understand?"

"If you succeed, I'll give you command of this ship. Until we get to Viggo." He replied with a scowl.

"Good." She snarled as she saw a simple boat being prepped to be launched. A single Hunter was aboard of it, obviously being the one designated to row her over.

"Bring me her sword. That's how I'll know she's dead." He added, watching her step into the boat.

"Or you'll hear a commotion. I'm not going to get near her if I can help it." She fired back, taking a seat and focusing on sharpening the spear head. "I'll make sure she's dead. Be it by spear or sword."

The man shook his head as the boat was lowered. Stepping up to the side of the ship, he simply watched the boat slowly make its way to the shore, a healthy distance away from the village.

"What d'ya thi'k, cap'n?" A Hunter asked quietly, brooding with his captain.

"I hope she succeeds. For our sakes of not having to do it ourselves." He replied quietly, raising a surprised eyebrow from his subordinate. Letting out a vented sigh, he then walked off, quietly adding to his wish. "And then be killed while being hunted down by the Defenders..."

"…here we are…" The Hunter whispered, letting the boat slowly stop itself in the shallow water. "…tread lightly…"

"…that's the plan..." She growled quietly, reluctantly, stepping out to wade the rest of the way. "Stay hidden but ready. I want to have a speedy get-a-way when I end this queen."

The Hunter nodded, getting lower in the boat as if to help conceal himself.

Pushing through the freezing water, she shivered as she felt herself get chilled. "Gods curse this area of the world." She huffed, missing the warmth of the southern islands and the forge. Instead, she was acting as an assassin, because of a vengeance driven quest she put herself on, and the fact that she still had to learn where Viggo and Ryker were hiding. "Sleep while you can, Mikael…I'm getting closer to you…" She snarled to herself, sliding through under some brush.

Ensuring she was alone, she squeezed her fur lined pants, pushing the remaining water out and tried to focus on thinking about being warm. Readying her spear, which was hastily sharpened, she slowly crept through the dense, pine forest.

"Now…to find and kill a queen; a queen of islanders having a habit of killing dragon hunters like me." She whispered to herself quietly. Can't imagine they'd look at me too kindly if they find me."

Everything was quiet, which she took as a good sign. Patrols must be light, or focused somewhere else on the island. It'd make infiltrating a whole lot easier at least. Lightly gliding through the trees, she silently wished she trained a little more with Eric and his scouts. He was legendary when it came to picking up tracks or any evidence of people or dragons. And best of all, remaining undetected. "Hope you're in Valhalla, Eric. With Grange. Odin knows I'm not getting there…" She whispered quietly.

As she trekked on, shivering due to the coldness of the night and chill of the sea breeze; lights from fires and torches began to burn brighter and illuminate the trees she was hiding in. At least she knew she was getting close to the village. Getting onto her stomach, she crawled up to a large rock to observe the source of the lights.

The village wasn't that big, though it did have some impressive structures and buildings. The largest being two pillars with a large dragon statue mounted on top. At the base of the pillars, was a large basket with food and what looked like offerings. The houses and actual structures were made out of timber, as were the walkways that made up paths that connected each house along the dirt roads.

"Well, at least I know they worship dragons. At least that one." She muttered to herself.

The people looked unique, and even war like. Having black uniforms and masks covering their faces, it was hard to tell who were the men and women. Even the few children she could see were dressed in similar uniforms, just without masks. Even in the night, it seemed that the village was alive and busy.

As she continued to observe the village, she watched as a certain soldier, carrying a large two handed axe, walked out of one of the wooden buildings. He had slicked back, auburn hair, tied in a ponytail. He was the only one she could see not wearing a mask. She immediately set him as their captain, or at least a person of rank.

Watching him, she let out a silent gasp as she saw a second person follow him. A woman, dressed in fancier, more ornate clothes, almost robe like. A large sword was strapped to her back, shaped in a way that she never seen before.

As she watched the woman, her heart skipped a beat as multiple villagers turned to bow to her. She found her!

"You're Mala, huh?" She whispered, seeing her target.

Gripping her spear, she watched her slowly make her way up a path towards the volcano. Sliding down the rock, she crouched as she made her way to the pathway. If she was lucky, she'd find the queen coming back, or at least distracted.

Moving with the shadows, she saw two sentries standing around a campfire, which wasn't going to be hard for her to avoid. As she silently moved under the trees and bushes, she could overhear the conversation between the two.

"Ugh, another raid. These are really getting old."

"I don't think this is a raid. It was only one ship that was spotted."

"Spies then?"

"Probably. We're sending a scout party later tonight to find anyone here…"

Teeth rolled her eyes, groaning as she heard the conversation fade the farther she moved. They knew the Hunters were here! Now they were on high alert! The queen was probably being taken to more secure area! Picking up her pace, she focused on getting up the path towards the volcano. She had to find her!

Crawling under some brush to make up some ground, she froze as she thought she heard some extra rustling of branches and leaves. Gripping her spear, she tuned her ears to where she thought she heard the noise, which was…above her?

Slowly rolling over on her back, she looked up at the trees. In the dark, it was impossible to see anything. Though she wasn't a scout, she was experienced enough to know that something was above her.

"…bring it on…" She whispered to herself, slowly standing on her feet. Eyeing the dark branches above, she noticed one particular branch shifting more than the others in the light breeze. Readying her spear, she took aim and hurled it.

"Gah!"

"I knew it!" She shouted, seeing a lot more movement in the trees. Drawing her sword, she watched in horror as three shadows dropped from the tree. Surrounding her, they all held spears up and ready.

"Surrender, Hunter!" One of them barked, thrusting his spear as if to warn her. The other two pulled out what looked like tubes, holding them to their mouths.

Gritting her teeth, she watched as a fourth Hunter slowly climbed down the same tree, cradling his shoulder and looking like he was in pain. At least she made that one's life miserable.

"Drop the sword…NOW!"

Not saying anything, she swung the sword hard at the spear pointed at her, cleaving the spear tip off the pole. Raising the sword again, she charged the one that threatened her. "Not until you pull it from my dead hands!"

The Defender quickly raised the shaft of his broken spear to stop the blade. The sword easily cut through it, letting splinters of the spear's remains shower the man holding it.

About to slice one of his legs off, Teeth felt two sudden jabbing's hit her in the back. They stung more than anything. Stumbling, she whirled around to contend with the other two, only to feel light headed and dizzy at the spin.

"Gah!" She cried, crashing on the ground. She couldn't tell if she was still gripping her sword. She didn't even know what was going on!

Focusing on breathing, she rolled over onto her back and stared up. Everything was clouding up! Staring into the growing abyss, she saw the three figures stand over her, muttering something to themselves. Finally, unable to fight the darkness, she fell into a deep slumber.

"Easy bud…I know you're tired." Hiccup whispered, eyeing the horizon.

With the sun slowly rising, it was miserable reminder to everyone in the search party how long they've been flying. The only thing they've seen, were a handful of Scauldrons and a couple of rocky islands. No ship, no Hunters, no Teeth. They went to the island that she and Heather had gone too, and then flew west; searching desperately for their friend and the Hunters she went with.

"Hiccup?" Astrid called out, looking visibly exhausted. "I know we need to find her, but we also need to rest. Our dragons can't keep this up without some kind of break."

"I know, I know." He huffed tiredly. "Next island we see, we'll stop and rest for a bit, alright?"

Astrid nodded in agreement, returning her attention to what lay ahead.

"Hey! Speak for yourselves!" Snotlout shouted, making both Astrid and Hiccup sigh in annoyance. "I'm going to keep looking for her! And when I find her, I'll tell her how I never stopped until I made sure she was safe! Unlike you two!"

"Snotlout, do you really think she's going to like you if you just show up where she's at? For all we know, she could be learning all about the Hunters and where Viggo and Ryker are." Hiccup argued. "I thought that her knocking you out was a sign that she doesn't like people getting close to her."

"Psshhh, she didn't know me then! When she gets to know who I really am, it'll be hard keeping her away from me!"

"Or make her hit you harder." Astrid added, not caring to see the angry glare from him.

"Hey…look. Up ahead." Hiccup called out, taking over the conversation. "Large island. With what looks like a volcano."

"Well, I guess a volcano is better to rest at than swimming in the ocean." Astrid replied, frowning at the thought. "Come on, those beaches look inviting."

Snotlout, who was peering at the island that was getting closer, called out to them. "Uh…what's that? Sticking out of the trees?"

"Your ego?" Astrid teased, smirking at him.

Hiccup pulled out his spyglass, peering ahead. "No, he's right. There's something there. It looks like a statue…of a dragon I've never seen before. And buildings too!

"Let me see."

Tossing the spyglass to Astrid, Hiccup continued to eye the island with concern.

"You think this is where Teeth went? Think she's here?"

"Don't know. I suppose we can ask though." He replied, letting Toothless continue to fly forward. "Follow me! We'll see how friendly this island is."

The three made their way to the island, specifically towards the village. Flying in a wide circle, they all stared down at village below. Villagers, dressed in a black uniform, were shouting and pointing up at them.

"Wave back. Show them we have good intentions." Hiccup instructed, waving down below.

Doing so, they watched as only a handful of villagers waved back. Even then, it was almost hesitant.

"Come on, we'll land away from their homes. We'll let them come to us." He continued to instruct.

The three then coasted over to the beach, being a small walk to the village and still in view of all the villagers. No sooner had they landed, a small group of what looked like warriors began to make way to them. The one leading the group was the only one that didn't have a mask, and held a large axe. Next to him was a lady, wearing a gold trimmed uniform. Her face had that of a scowl.

"Well, be ready in case we need to leave." Hiccup whispered, not liking the sight already.

"Yeah, you got it." Astrid replied back, watching the group slowly approach them as she slid off her saddle.

Standing next to their dragons, the three simply waited to be greeted by the welcoming party.

Stopping a short distance away, the man in front took a step forward to separate himself from his men and the woman next to him. "I am Throk. State your names and your purpose."

Hiccup nodded in acknowledgement, as he too took a step forward. "I'm Hiccup Haddock. With me is Astrid Hofferson and Snotlout Jorgenson. These are our dragons, Toothless the Night Fury, Stormfly the Deadly Nadder, and Hookfang the Monstrous Nightmare. We were flying in search of a friend, and our dragons were getting tired. We were hoping you'd let us stay on your island to rest for a little bit."

The man turned then took a step to the side, turning as he did. "All hail Queen Mala, Queen Defender of the Wing."

Hiccup, Astrid, and Snotlout watched as the woman, apparently queen of the island stepped forward, eyeing them suspiciously. Everyone in the group behind her bowed, including Throk.

Unsure of what to do, Hiccup gave a small bow himself, followed by both Astrid and Snotlout.

"Why do you ride those dragons?" She asked, studying Hiccup and Toothless.

Taken back by the question, he shrugged as he began to explain. "Don't know, other than it's fun and something that bonds us with them. It's the only way that Toothless can fly too."

Toothless growled, rubbing against Hiccup with his gummy smile.

"Why does he need you to fly?"

Pointing out to his tail, he explained. "That's why. When I ride him, that prosthetic stays open. Without it, he can barely glide a hundred feet without losing control or falling out of the air."

"Did you rescue him?"

"Yeah…I guess I did." He replied. "He in turn saved me. Well, most of me." At that, he flashed his prosthetic to her, showing that he lost his foot.

Intrigued, she then turned to Astrid. "And what's your story with your dragon?"

"Stormfly helped me save our village." She began to explain. Stroking her dragon's neck, she added "Changed my mind completely about dragons."

"What was it like before you met…Stormfly?"

Looking at each other, Hiccup then began to rub the back of his head as he gazed down at his feet. "We…fought dragons."

Mala's eyes narrowed, making Hiccup flash with worry.

"But that changed!" He quickly cried out. "We're friends with them now! We help them!" Gesturing to him, Astrid, and Snotlout, he continued to say how much they work with dragons. "That's what we do now! We help dragons when we can!"

"If you help dragons like you say you do, then why do you have them saddled like they're simply your pack beasts?"

Shocked at the accusation, Hiccup shook his head in disbelief. "Pack beasts?" Looking at Toothless, who was looking at Mala inquisitively, he shook his head. "We never treat them like that. They're our friends! We owe them everything for what's happened to us! We fight for them, and they fight for us!" Looking back at Mala, he raised an eyebrow. "Can I ask why you're so concerned for our dragons?"

"Because a dragon's freedom and well-being are the only reasons we exist." She answered. "It's concerning to see such creatures being saddled and ridden like they were common tools."

"Oh, they're more than tools to us. We let them choose to stay with us!" He quickly replied, wanting to extinguish the idea that they enslaved dragons. "We're currently at war because we too want them to be free."

"At war? With whom?" Mala questioned, sounding more interested.

"Viggo and Ryker Grimborn, and their Dragon Hunters."

Mala looked like she lost her breath. "I see we have a commonality. We both hate the Grimborns and what they do."

"Uh…to be fair, we don't know anything about you." Hiccup replied, again rubbing the back of his head. "But if you're waging war with the Grimborns, I'll agree that we have similar end goal."

For the first time, Mala smiled at them. "I guess we better spend some time visiting with each other then. Your friends and dragons may rest here until you are ready to continue your journey. However, in the meantime, I ask that you respect our laws and rules, and don't ride your dragons until you're ready to leave. It's forbidden here to ride on the backs of these creatures."

Looking back at Astrid and Snotlout, who were both nodding, he too let out a smile. "We can agree to that. And maybe you can see how strong of a friendship we have with our dragons."

"That is something I would like to inquire some more about you." She replied turning to walk with them.

"Uh, your majesty…" Hiccup began to say, walking alongside with her. "May I ask you a question?"

Mala turned and nodded, silently granting him permission.

"Have you seen a Hunter ship sail by? A smaller one?" He asked. "We think our friend was on board of it, and we know they were sailing west."

Mala frowned at the subject. "Yes, Hiccup. There was a smaller ship. Though it did not sail by. At least, not at first."

Hiccup glanced nervously at Astrid, who also looked hesitant at the answer.

"They moored themselves on the far side of our island." She continued to explain. "One of their spies, I imagine, was caught here. After we captured her, the ship sailed away, towards the south east."

"Her?" Astrid gasped.

Mala stopped, eyeing her curiously. "Yes, her. It was a girl they sent. Wounded one of my men too."

"Did she say what her name was?" Hiccup asked nervously.

Mala shook her head. "She hasn't said anything. I haven't questioned her since we captured her last night."

"Did she have a longsword? A silver one?" Hiccup asked, looking nervous.

"Was she the most beautiful girl ever?" Snotlout followed up with, making Astrid face palm herself.

Now concerned, Mala slowly nodded. "…yes…she had a silvered sword. As well as a spear. She has red hair, with a noticeable scar down her cheek to her chin. Is this your friend?"

"Ugh, I'm going to kill her." Astrid growled, shaking her head

"You see, Queen Mala…" Hiccup began to say, also shaking his head. "She is our friend. She was acting as a spy for us by signing on with the Dragon Hunters so she could learn where Viggo and Ryker are."

Mala's expression hardened. The otherwise cheerful smile was now a firm scowl.

"We don't know what she was supposed to do. She was hired to help raid a dragon sympathizing island, which we thought was our place. When they didn't show, we figured something went wrong and didn't even consider there was another island that cared about dragons."

"I see…" She growled. "Is your…friend kind to dragons, like yourselves?"

Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other.

"Not at first..." Astrid answered, rubbing the back of her head too.

"How is she a friend then?"

"You see, she's from the Southern Seas. Her people and tribe were dragon hunters like Viggo."

"You're friends with…other dragon hunters." Mala scowled, glaring at them with contempt.

"It's kind of a long story. You see-" Hiccup began to explain, only to be cut off.

"Sieze them, Throk. Throw them in the pit with their friend." She ordered, turning to walk off. "We'll judge them together."

"Yes, Queen Mala." Throk answered.

"Wait!" Astrid shouted, getting grabbed by two guards.

"Urgh! You're lucky there's more of you than us!" Snotlout growled, also getting wrestled down to the ground.

Hiccup was pulled away from Toothless, who was more confused than angry. "No! You got the wrong idea!" He shouted.

"Feed their dragons Sage Fruit. Prepare the court. We'll have a trial before sundown." Mala continued to say as she walked away.

Fighting their guards, they watched as their dragons were also tackled. More of the people then ran to them, carrying some kind of fruit. Before they could see what they were doing to them, they had bags thrown over their heads, blindfolding them.

"Let us go! Gah! Hiccup!" Astrid shouted, trying to pull her arms free from her guards' grasp.

"Astrid! Snotlout" He shouted back unable to fight the grip on his arms.

Snotlout didn't try to hide his frustration either. "Hey! Watch it! Just you wait! I'll make Hookfang burn everything dow- Agk!"

Being wrestled, the three were dragged on, though they couldn't see where they were being taken. The only thing they could tell, was they were being led down some stairs and the air was damp. Hiccup, who at this point gave up trying to fight his captors, then heard a door open.

"What the? Hiccup?!"

Hiccup's voice skipped a beat. It was Teeth's voice!

"Sit down!"

Forced to sit down, he was pushed against a wall. His hands were then grabbed and lifted, being locked in something cold and metallic.

"Let them go! They didn't do anything!" Teeth shouted, her voice quivering with a hot anger.

Hiccup then felt his hood get pulled off, leaving him blinking. Sitting in a circular room, he saw Teeth sitting across the way from him, her wrists chained above her. Snotlout was sat down next to her, with Astrid next to him. All of them were chained similarly.

The men that had dragged them in then left, slamming the door shut and locking it.

"Grr…great!" Astrid growled, shaking the chains that held her hands above her. "That was a quick turn of events."

"Teeth! Are you alright?!" Snotlout cried out in a panic, seeing her in the same position as him.

"Ugh, shut up…" She growled, rolling her eyes. "What are you guys doing here? How did you find me?"

"When we didn't see you come to raid us, we knew you were taken somewhere else. Didn't think we'd find this island though." Hiccup answered, looking over at her with concern.

"What happened with you? How were you caught?" Astrid asked, giving up on slipping out of the metal cuffs.

"Rrrr…" Teeth growled, turning to look at the heavy wooden door in their cell. "I was hired to kill Mala. Failed obviously. I honestly thought I was being hired to raid Dragon's Edge, the way the Hunters were talking to me. Wish I knew it was supposed to be an assassination instead of a dragon hunt."

"How did you not know what you were doing?!" Astrid barked, angry at hearing what Teeth was going to do.

"They wouldn't tell me until I signed on with them! Even then, we were sailing here before they gave me details!" She roared back. "Viggo's a lot more cautious! And I thought I'd be able to learn where he is, or even be able to find him if I did this!"

"Either way, what's done is done." Hiccup called out, looking up to see the sky. They were indeed in a pit, with bars acting as their ceiling. "We'll just have to wait for our trial. We'll explain everything then."

"Yeah? Well, you guys have a shot at being pardoned…" Teeth huffed angrily, glaring at Hiccup. "I came here trying to kill their queen. How do you think they're going to look at that?"

"You were acting as a spy. Not on your own." Hiccup tried to argue.

"I'm. A. Dragon. Hunter." She spat, getting colder in her tone with every word. "They kill people like me regularly! I'm sure it's a sport for them!"

"No. You're not a dragon hunter. Not anymore at least." Hiccup quickly shot back. "You're someone trying to change. You're a Dragon Rider!"

"Clearly that's better. Given you're in the same situation as me." She scoffed sarcastically.

"Teeth, listen to us. We're in here because we're associated with you." Hiccup began to council.

"Great. So this is my faul-"

"Enough! Stop! Let me talk." Hiccup snapped, stopping her from ranting. "For once, you're going to listen to me, to all of us actually. Even, I can't believe I'm saying this, but even Snotlout."

Snotlout's face beamed, seeing that he was going to be given permission to tell someone what to do. Especially Teeth, who was going to literally be a captive audience.

"This isn't the first time we've had to think our way out of a situation. Actually the reason why we even met you in the first place is because I convinced the Hunters that had us to go south." He continued to explain. "Trust and listen to us. We're going to give you a crash course in being a Dragon Rider. You may have been a Dragon Hunter, but now you're going to show them that you're training to become a Rider."

Glaring at him, she let out a vented sigh and looked away. Rattling the chains that held her arms above her head, she visibly bit her lip. "Fine. I'll listen to what you have to say. But this doesn't mean I'm actually going to train a dragon. Got it?"

"We'll see." He whispered, leaning back against the wall. "Astrid, you start out. Tell her what you know about Deadly Nadders. I'll fill in as we go."

"Sure thing, Hiccup." She replied, looking over at Teeth. "First things first. You need a dragon to trust you before you do anything else. Be it a Nadder, Nightmare, or Night Fury; it doesn't matter. Trust is where it all begins."