Chapter 15: Night of the Hunters
The sun was shining bright as morning came at the Edge. All the dragons were still sound asleep in the stable. Except for one.
"Whoo-hoo!" Astrid cheered as she and Stormfly flew up a cliff. The two got up earlier than the others (except for Hicca) and went on a morning flight. With all the craziness that started since they discovered the Dragon Eye, it was nice to just fly around for the sheer fun of it.
They flew into a forest of a nearby island where Astrid decides to be a little bold. "Catch ya on the other side!" She jumps off the saddle and grabs a vine, swinging herself to the top. Sure she always calls Hicca and Hiccup crazy for all their dangerous stunts, but at this moment, she could get the thrill of it. She flips in the air and then lands right on Stormfly's saddle. "Miss me?"
The girls then landed near a river to take a break.
"Nothing like an early morning ride to start the day." Astrid said, petting Stormfly. "I know, we should do it more often. From now on, I promise we'll-"
She stopped talking when she noticed Stormfly's ears perking up, alerting her that something is not right. They looked up to see a flock of Terrible Terrors seeming to fly away from the island. Something told Astrid that there was more to it.
She quickly got on Stormfly. "That way."
The duo flew above the shore where they found a few ships anchored. They landed at the cliffs, a safe distance away from the ships. Astrid inspected the colors of the ship. "I've never seen those colors before." She said to Stormfly, making a note to ask Raeda later. She then looked at the sail and noticed the insignia, a very familiar insignia. "But I have seen that insignia. It was on the Reaper." The realization came to her as she gasped. "Those are Dragon Hunters." A part of her mind told her to leave and alert the others immediately, but another part of her told her to stay and assess her new enemies. "Come on, Stormfly, let's get a better look."
Stormfly flies them closer to the shore, behind some boulders. There they got a better view of the beach and saw dragons in the same cages most of the Dragon Riders were trapped in back at the Reaper. Some armored men were busy loading the cages onto the ship.
One of the trapped Monstrous Nightmares started growling at one of the men passing by. The Dragon Hunter started banging the cage. "Quiet down, ya useless lizard." He demanded.
Astrids' blood was boiling at the sight of this mistreatment. The warrior side of her was telling her to go fight and free the dragons, but she knew that even with Stormfly they were outnumbered against the armed Dragon Hunger.
The Dragon Hunter taunting the Monstrous Nightmare started laughing at the Dragon, until his head was slammed into the cage by someone else.
"Just load 'em up." The other man demanded, still holding the guys head.
"Yes, Ryker. Sorry, Ryker." The Dragon Hunter grunted.
But Ryker didn't let go of him. "Look at him. Powerful. Perfect. Remember, they're smarter than you." The Monstrous Nightmare glared at his tormentor. The dragon leapt forward to attack, but before it could, Ryker effortlessly threw the man back right into a nearby cage. "But not me." He laughed, but suddenly stopped and sniffed the air. He turned and looked at the nearby boulders.
The same one Astrid and Stormfly were hiding behind.
Astrid gasped and quickly she and Stormfly ducked behind the boulders, hoping they weren't spotted.
Unfortunately for them, that wasn't the case. "And grab that Nadder!" Ryker demanded, directing his men' attention to where the two girls were hiding.
Astrid wasted no time getting on her dragon. "Get us outta here, Stormfly!" The blue Nadder took off.
"Archers! Loose." Ryker commanded.
Immediately Stormfly found herself dodging a fury of arrows. "Come on, Stormfly! We gotta get Hiccup and Hicca!" Astrid pleaded. Stormfly fired spines at the hunters, hoping to create a window for the two of them to escape. As soon as she did that. Ryker grabbed a bow and arrow from a nearby hunter and shot at Stormfly's stomach.
He got a hit.
Stormfly growls in pain as she started swaying back and forth with Astrid trying to hold on. "Stormfly!" The Hofferson girl couldn't understand why what was happening to her dragon.
Ryker smirked in triumph. "When a Nadder shoots its spines, it always leaves its belly exposed."
Stormfly continued to lose her grip on her flight, causing Astrid to get flung into the sea below. The Nadders wings then stopped working completely, causing her to fall in the sea as well, right into a net that was attached to one of the hunters ships.
Ryker got on to the same that pulled Stormfly in. "Move out!" He commanded.
"What about the rider?" One of the hunters asked.
But Ryker couldn't care any less. "Never mind! We got the dragon."
Astrid managed to grab onto a stray plank to keep herself floating. She watched as the Hunters disappeared with her dragon as their prisoner. "No. Stormfly! I'll find you."
It was easier said than done when she was lost at sea, nowhere near any island.
(Linebreak)
The sun was starting to set at the Edge and the teens had a quiet day. Despite the peacefulness, Hiccup and Hicca Haddock were outside the stables with their dragons, anxiously looking out across the horizon. They were joined by Fishlegs and Meatlug.
"Still no sign of 'em?" Fishlegs asked. He was referring to Astrid and Stormfly. None of the riders have seen the duo since they woke up, except for Hicca who saw them leave for a flight early in the morning. "They're probably out exploring and lost track of time."
"She's never been gone all day like this." Hicca stated.
"Not without telling someone." Hiccup pointed out.
"You remember when she didn't show up for her own party 'cause she was setting up a defensive perimeter around Berk." Fishlegs recalled.
"Yeah." Hiccup said, still looking out at the sea.
"Or the time, she decided to practice her late night axe-throwing and surprised silent Sven in the woods." The blonde boy continued.
"Yes, Fishlegs." Hicca sighed.
"No I don't think he recovered from that. And there was that time…"
"Thank you, Fishlegs for trying to make us feel better." Hiccup interrupted. "But this is different, there is something wrong, Hicca and I can feel it."
"You know if anyone is equipped to survive out there, it is Astrid." Fishlegs reassured them.
"No you're right Fishlegs." Hiccup agreed, but there was a look in his eyes.
A look that Hicca caught on. "But we're gonna find her anyway."
(Linebreak)
Astrid was still drifting in the sea, hanging on to the plank. At this point she lost sight of any island and there is no hope for any ship to pass by. As if it wasn't bad enough, it then started raining.
"Great." Astrid muttered, wondering how the day went, from enjoying a beautiful, thrilling flight with Stormfly to this.
Luckily for her, all her friends flew out in the rain to start their search party for her.
"We'll all go in different directions. I'll head south." Hiccup directed.
"No I should head south!" Snotlout objected.
"And why is that?" Hiccup deadpanned.
"Because Astrid likes to fly south and she'll be expecting me to rescue her." Snotlout explained.
Hiccup didn't even bother arguing with that. "Like I said, I'll go south."
"Rain, wind, all of us splitting up? Sounds like the perfect opportunity, for a rogue sea beast, to leap from the depths of the ocean, and pick us off one... by... one." Tuffnut narrated.
"Cut it out, Tuffnut. We're already worried about Astrid and Stormfly as it is." Hicca said.
"Alright gang, let's go find her." Hiccup said.
"She's gonna be so sad, when you rescue her, instead of me." Snotlout commented.
"Oh, don't worry I'll tell her it was all you." Hiccup said sarcastically.
Snotlout didn't pick up on the sarcasm. "You'd do that for me?"
"No, of course I wouldn't." Hiccup said as he and Toothless flew south.
The rest of the group split up as well. Raeda steered Sparkfire to her assigned direction, but the purple Nadder wouldn't follow.
"Sparkfire, what's going on?" Raeda asked. Sparkfire instead flew to the direction Hiccup and Toothless went to.
"Astrid!" Ruffnut and Tuffnut shouted during their search. They were having a hard time because they kept steering Barf and Belch's heads in different directions causing the two Zippleback heads to smack into each other.
After this happened two more times, Tuffnut tried to change strategy. "Okay, new plan, I'll look for Astrid, you fly the dragon." He said to his twin.
Ruffnut nodded at that. "Good idea!"
But they were still steering the heads in different directions causing them to smack together again.
"Okay, okay, okay, I'll fly the dragon, you look for Astrid." Tuffnut said.
"Good idea!" His sister agreed. "Astrid!"
SMACK!
(Linebreak)
As Snotlout and Hookfang were on their search, the human looked below and spotted a cave on an island. It seemed to be lit up, as if a fire was burning inside it.
"Huh? Look! that must be her." Snotlout inferred. "Take us down, Hookfang." The Monstrous Nightmare complied and flew straight into the cave. Snotlout jumped off the saddle once they landed. "Astrid! Your viking, shining, gronckle iron is here!"
Unfortunately he didn't get a greeting from Astrid, but an enraged Typhoomerang who definitely did not appreciate the company.
"Aah! Not Astrid! Not Astrid! So not Astrid!" Snotlout exclaimed, as he and Hookfang flew out of the cave to dodge the fire blasts.
(Linebreak)
Hiccup and Toothless searched for Astrid, using the dragons echolocation abilities.
"Still nothing. She's got to be somewhere." Hiccup said, the anxiety inside of him refused to leave.
He got his hopes up when he saw a Deadly Nadder flying towards them, but it died down when he saw the purple scales. "Raeda what are you doing? I said that I will take the South."
"It's not me, it's Sparkfire. Apparently she decided to drive this time." Raeda explained, giving up on trying to steer her dragon.
(Linebreak)
Having long lost track of how long she was stuck adrift, Astrid was now losing her strength to hold on the log. The rain and cold temperature did not help her at all. Fatigue starts taking over and she lets go of the log, sinking in the ocean.
She closed her eyes as she helplessly fell deeper and deeper into the ocean. When all seemed lost, she was suddenly pulled upwards.
Hiccup and Toothless emerge out of the water, with Astrid safely in Hiccups' arms. "Astrid! Astrid! ASTRID!" Hiccup pleaded trying to shake Astrid awake. He really wished he had Hicca come with him.
Astrid stirred back into consciousness. "What took you so long?" She muttered weakly, just enough for Hiccup to hear.
"Oh thank Thor." Hiccup said, hugging her. Astrid then passed out.
"Hiccup!" Raeda shouted as she and Sparkfire flew towards them. "We can't find Stormfly!"
"Please tell me you brought your cloak with you!" Hiccup pleaded. Raeda opened her saddle bag and took out her purple scaled cloaked. Hiccup used that to cover Astrid. "Gather the others and head back to the Edge!" With that Toothless took off to get Astrid to safety.
"Why did I not think to pack an extra cloak?" Raeda asked Sparkfire as the two went to look for the others.
(Linebreak)
Astrid slowly opened her eyes to find the other teens gathered around her bed looking at her. A quick glance around the room made her realise she was actually in Hiccas' medical hut.
The memories of what happened to her came back and she jolted upright. "Stormfly!"
"Hey! It's okay, it's okay just try to relax Astrid, you had a tough night." Hiccup soothed, rushing to Astrid's side.
"You are so lucky didn't get hypothermia." Hicca said.
"No no no no, you guys don't understand, they were all in cages... and they have Stormfly!" Astrid rushed to explain.
"Whoa whoah whoah whoah, wait slow down, ...cages?" Hiccup said, trying to make sense of the information. "What are you talking about? What happened out there?"
Astrid looked at Hiccup "Dragon Hunters."
The other teens gasped hearing at that, even Ruffnut and Tuffnut became serious.
"Dragon Hunters?" Hicca repeated.
"A whole fleet of them." Astrid said, looking at the Haddock girl.
"And they have Stormfly?" Hiccup asked.
"Yeah, this big, ugly one." The Hofferson girl said, recalling Ryker. "Oh when I get my hands on him."
"And welcome back." Fishlegs muttered, seeing Astrid being herself again.
The blonde girl jumped out of bed. "C'mon, let's mount up... Stormfly!" She called out of habit, running out of the hut. She stopped when she realised she didn't have her dragon and walked back to the others.
"You can ride with me!" Hiccup quickly offered, earning a smile from Astrid.
(Linebreak)
The Dragon Riders arrived at the beach where Astrid and Stormfly found the Dragon Hunters and started searching around for clues of their whereabouts.
"There has to be some clues here or somewhere, something." Astrid said, keeping a laser sharp focus on the sand as she searched.
"How many cages were there?" Hiccup asked Astrid.
"Remember all the cages we saw on Reaper?" Astrid asked back.
"Yeah?"
"Double it."
"We got nothing." Tuffnut reported.
"Just a bunch of trash, look like these Dragon Hunters were also litterbugs." Ruffnut commented.
"Yeah there should be some kind of penalty or fine for littering, I mean, am I wrong, people? What if everyone were this careless and inconsiderate?" Tuffnut ranted, starting to tear up. "What then? Huh! When would we be then?"
"Yeah, Tuff? Littering is kind of the least of our problems here." Raeda reminded him.
"I knew coming here was a bad idea, what do want to find anyway?" Snotlout complained. He took another step when suddenly he screamed in pain. He fell to the ground, clutching his left foot. "Something bit me! I'm allergic to sand crabs, they make my toes fan out, ow, ow ow ow ow." Astrid saw what Snotlout stepped on and ran to take it out of his foot. "Oh look at you, rushed right over to help me, didn't you? You know what that means Astrid."
He screamed again when Astrid pulled the sharp object out of his foot without any warning.
"This is Dragon Hunter arrow." Astrid said, recognising the weapon.
"Or.. that." Snotlout muttered, getting up.
Astrid turned to the others, showing them the arrow. The metal tip was green in color. "Stormfly was hit by one of these before she was caught, I've never seen her act so out of control."
Fishlegs grabbed the arrow to inspect it. "Interesting.." He then sniffed the arrow. "..unexpected.." Then to others' surprise, he tasted the green part of the arrow. "..mmhm tangy." He turned to Hicca. "Is this what I think it is?"
Hicca took the arrow to inspect it as well, minus the tasting. "I think it is." She said to Fishlegs.
"Mind cluing us in on what tangy and unexpected mean?" Hiccup asked.
"We're guessing it's refined dragon root." Fishlegs explained.
"In high concentrations, it can overwhelm a dragon's senses completely, making it almost impossible for them to fly." Hicca added.
"That's exactly what happened to Stormfly." Astrid said.
"Think of it, just one quiver of these arrows could decimate an entire flock of dragons." Fishlegs said,
"How are we gonna find her? We have no idea where they're going." Astrid asked, getting consumed by her worry for Stormfly again.
An idea then came to Hiccup. "Maybe not, but we do know where they've been."
(Linebreak)
? Well, I've got my axe ?
? And I got my mace ?
Gobber sang to himself as he finished checking on Lockjaws teeth. The dragon had fully recovered from his illness which meant that he, along with his friends, were now able to leave Berk. Henry had packed everything they needed for the flight and for extra safety, he had Gothi do a check-up for all his dragons. He was now having Gobber do a dentist check-up for them, something none of the five dragons were really thrilled about.
Lockjaw was the last patient while the other four dragons were playing tug-of-war with a log, with Scout and Wildstar on one team and Sandtrapper and Sandstorm on the other team.
"Well all done." Gobber announced, pausing in his singing as he got up.
Henry was relieved to hear that, not only because he now knows for certain that all his dragons are okay, but also because he was getting really sick of that song.
"Great, thanks." He said, He whistled at the other four dragons to get their attention.
"So yer really leaving this time?" Gobber asked.
"Yep, we're all in good health and ready to go." Henry answered, though he himself wasn't really convinced of his answer. There's really something about Berk that feels quite comforting. "Heard anything from Hicca?" He asked.
"Why do you want to know?" The dragon dentist asked, feeling suspicious.
"Wildstar wants to say goodbye to her."
"Oh." The suspicion was dropped. "Not really. Lass is probably at the edge of the world with the other kids. Who knows what that Dragon Eye would lead them to."
"Dragon Eye?"
"Yeah, this strange object they found a while back." Gobber explained, while sorting his tools. "A cylindrical, little rigged with booby traps. But that's not the strangest part. If you shine a dragon fire at it, it gives a strange glow filled with information on dragons. Can you imagine such a thing? I'm sure not even Hiccup and Hicca could make something like that-"
He turned around, only to find his forge empty.
(Linebreak)
Hiccups' idea brought them to the Reaper. The teens searched boarded the ship and searched for clues.
"Alright, look for anything that might help us track down the dragon hunters. Maps, coordinates, hidden compartments…" Fishlegs reminded the Thorston twins and Snotlout as they searched one of the ships.
"There's nothing here. Someone totally looted this boat!" Tuffnut said.
"This ship gives me the creeps." Ruffnut shuddered
"Sunken ship, dragon hunters, the creeps... I bet this thing is crawling with ghosts. And other such spirits planning on dragging us down to the dark Viking underworld where they will torture us by tickling us for eternity!" Tuffnut ranted.
"Nifelheim?" Ruffnut asked.
"Gesundheit." Tuffnut replied.
"Nifelheim! I knew coming here was a bad idea! What do we hope to find anyway?" Snotlout questioned. He took another step, but ended up falling through the deck. "Ow!" He coughed, having landed on some of the planks. "Get me out of here!"
"What if that's just what the ghosts want us to do?" Tuffnut inferred, stopping his sister.
"Tuffnut!"
Hiccup, Hicca, Raeda and Astrid were on the other ship searching for clues.
"There's nothing here!" Astrid growled in frustration.
"Just keep looking. We'll find something." Hiccup reassured.
But Astrid couldn't calm down. "What if we don't? What if we can't track them down? Hiccup, I'm-"
"I know. I know. But we have to stay positive."
"I'm trying. But you didn't see Ryker. He actually enjoys hunting and caging dragons. And he has mine!" She threw her axe at a nearby shield in anger to emphasize her point.
"We're gonna find her, Astrid, and the other dragons, too. I promise." Hiccup said firmly.
"Hiccup, I don't know what I would do without Stormfly." Astrid admitted in a small voice.
Hicca, who was searching nearby and overheard them, stepped in. "Astrid, I watched as Hiccup, Midnight and Toothless got captured and taken to Outcast Island. I know how it feels. We won't rest until we get Stormfly back. Okay?" She put her hand on Astrids' shoulder.
Astrid nodded.
Raeda entered the room. "Nothing." She reported.
"Let's go see if the other guys found anything." Hiccup said.
Astrid went to pull her axe out of the shield and just as she did, a lens fell from the same shield.
"Dragon Eye lens." Hiccup said in surprise as he picked it up.
"Good thing we decided to bring the Dragon Eye with us." Hicca said, taking the object out of her bag.
They quickly called the others to where they were and one by one the dragons took turns in trying to activate the lens.
Toothless was the last dragon to go, but nothing happened.
"Well, none of our dragons work with this new lens." Hicca concluded.
"If we can't figure out what kind of dragon we need-" Astrid trailed.
"I know. I'm thinking." Hiccup said.
Tuffnut went to look at the shield where the lens came from. "Hm. Yep. It's either the inside of a yak, or a Changewing in a cage."
Hicca looked at the shield as well and her eyes widened. "Tuff! You're a genius!"
"I'm actually a 'geologenius'." Tuffnut corrected. "That's a geologist who's also a genius."
Hiccup ignored the blonde boy and figured out what his sister was thinking. "Looks like we're going to Changewing Island."
(Linebreak)
"Changewing Island." Fishlegs said, once the gang arrived at their destination. "Ah, such a peaceful place. Except for all the Changewings, of course."
"Okay, guys, we need some glowing, Changewing acid to shine through the Dragon Eye so we can see what's on this lens." Hiccup said.
"And let's just remind ourselves that the color-changing eggs are not the Stone of Good Fortune and there is nothing lucky about us having them." Raeda mentioned.
Snotlout ignored Raeda. "Let me guess. That means we have to somehow find a Changewing, an ambush predator that can blend in perfectly with its environment, and milk its acid before it rips us to shreds? Great idea, Hiccup."
"Au contraire, mon ami. In order to find a Changewing, you must become a Changewing!" Tuffnut said. He suddenly jumped right into a nearby bush, which he soon ended up regretting. "Thorns! Brambles! Blackberries!"
"Such stealth." Astrid said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"They'll never see me coming." They could hear him say.
The rest of the teens started their search for a Changewing. They ended up at a river stream, where they were now waiting for an acid-spitting dragon to show up.
"Hiccup, this is taking too long." Astrid whispered as the group hid behind bushes.
"Changewings can be a bit skittish. We just gotta be patient." Hiccup whispered back.
"It's easier to catch a visible Changewing this way." Hicca added.
"How do we know a Changewing isn't standing right there? Or there? They're invisible, remember? Oh, and did I mention, this is a terrible idea?!" Snotlout ranted to Hookfang, annoying Raeda who could hear him. Just for fun, Hookfang snorted an ember at his human head. Annoyed, Snotlout swatted the ember away, only for it to land on a nearby leaf, igniting a small fire which started to grow.
Both boy and dragon were hastily trying to extinguish it, which they luckily managed to do. "Hookfang." Snotlout growled.
"Pipe down already!" Raeda hissed at him.
"I'm bored. Why are we just staring at the water?" Ruffnut whisper-asked Fishlegs.
"All animals need to drink, therefore all animals will visit the watering hole." Fishlegs answered in a whisper.
"Great. Now I'm bored and thirsty." The Thorston girl groaned
"Shh." Hiccup shushed and pointed. "Look."
The group spotted a Changewing landing and true to Fishlegs' prediction, it started drinking from the river.
"Come on." Hiccup whispered to the others.
The teens took this as their cue and tiptoed carefully to the Changewing when suddenly-
"Hey! You guys have any luck?" Tuffnut exclaimed, coming out of nowhere.
This alerted the Changewing of their presence and it took off.
Astrid was definitely not happy about that. "Ugh! Tuffnut! We were just about to-"
"Oh, look at that." Hiccup interrupted.
They looked to see the Changewing trapped with a rope tied around its neck.
Tuffnut crossed his arms with a triumphant look on his face.
"How on earth did you do that?" Raeda questioned.
"Like I said, 'See the Changewing. Be the Changewing'." Was all Tuffnut said.
The group then took this as their chance to approach the Changewing. But the trapped dragon was not ready to surrender just yet. It started spitting acid at the humans who quickly ran to take cover. Unfortunately for Snotlout, he was not fast enough to dodge the acid that hit his helmet!
The Changewing then shot acid at the rope that was keeping it there and flew away.
At least the gang was left with some of the acid.
(Linebreak)
"Would you just hold still, Snotlout?" Hiccup asked.
They wasted no time heading back to the Edge (especially when Snotlout urged them non-stop to hurry, still wearing the acid on his helmet.). Once they made it back, they went to the Clubhouse to inspect the Dragon Eye. Hicca held the Dragon Eye in front of the helmet, while Snotlout was sitting down.
"Easy for you to say. You don't have Changewing acid burning through your skull." The brawny boy retorted.
"If we take off the helmet, we'll spill the acid. Now hold still." Astrid commanded.
Fishlegs studied the map before them. "This doesn't help. We've seen this map before."
"It must be a hunter port." Hiccup guessed, noting the marked areas. "And it's the closest to the beach where Stormfly was captured. Odds are, that's where they're headed. After that, who knows where?"
"Then we have to hurry!" Astrid urged, not standing the idea that Stormfly could be gone forever.
"Yes, please. Let's hurry!" Snotlout agreed, only because he wanted to get the acid helmet off before it burned him. Without waiting for anyone's response he threw said helmet off his head.
"Uh, but how are we going to avoid getting shot with those dragon root arrows?" Fishlegs pointed out.
Hiccup seemed to have already thought of a plan. "Funny you should ask, Fishlegs. For my plan to work, someone's gonna have to get shot."
"And if he's thinking what I'm thinking, you're not going to like this." Hicca said, looking at Fishlegs, who whimpered in dread.
"Yeah! Looks like we're up!" Tuffnut said excitedly to his sister.
"Cool!" Ruffnut chuckled. Both the blonde twins thought they were the ones who were going to take the hit.
They were in for a disappointment when Hiccup explained the plan.
(Linebreak)
The Hunters were exactly where Hiccup predicted they would be when the Dragon Riders fired at them.
"I'm here for my dragon!" Astrid announced to the Hunters below as she flew by with Hiccup and Toothless. Hicca and Midnight were right by their side.
Rykers eyes widened at the two dragons in his sight. "Night!" A malicious grin appears on his face as he saw the value that these two rare can bring him. "Fire!"
That prompted the other hunters to fire dragon root arrows at the dragons above them. The dragons quickly worked to maneuver through the stream of arrows coming at them, knowing the consequence of getting hit.
Snotlout and Hookfang had a few close calls "Is that all you got?" He called out to them. He jolted when one of the arrows hit his new helmet, making it spin around his head. "Whoa. How 'bout a little heads-up, Hookfang?"
One of the Dragon Hunters spotted the Night Furies. "There they are!" Most of the hunters focused their aims on those two dragons.
"You sure your plan's gonna work? That was pretty close." Astrid asked Hiccup, who nodded.
"Fishlegs! You're up!" Hicca cued as they flew by the boy and Gronckle.
"Okay, girl, let's give it all we got." Fishlegs said to Meatlug as they flew closer to the ships. Meatlug fought against her instincts and took a hit from one of the arrows. "Oh, Thor! We're hit! We're hit!" Fishlegs yelled as the Gronckle pretended to fly haphazardly before falling on the ship Ryker was on.
"They got Fishlegs and Meatlug!" Raeda exclaimed, just for effect.
Fishlegs got up and was immediately restrained by the soldiers on deck. "Get up, girl! Oh, please! You'll be okay!" He then glared at Ryker who was watching them with a smirk. "You monster!"
"Take 'em below and toss 'em in a cell!" He commanded.
Fishlegs struggled against his hold, but only for show. "Meatlug! Can you hear me? Oh, stay with me, girl! Get off me! Get off me!"
"Not bad acting." Raeda quietly commented from above, watching the scene as Sparkfire continued to dodge.
Ryker looked up at the remaining dragons above, setting his sights on Toothless and Midnight. "What I could get for those Night Fury?"
"Please, help us. There was dragon root on that arrow. Look what it's doing to her." Fishlegs pleaded as they got to the cages.
They stopped in front of one of the opened cages and both prisoners were shoved in. "In you go."
Fishlegs turned around to see the soldier locking the cell door on them. All the hunters left to go above deck, leaving the prisoners.
The Ingerman boy quickly spotted Stormfly, who was locked in the cage opposite to him and Meatlug.
"Just try to be still. We'll be alright." Fishlegs assured his dragon
So far all was going according to plan.
(Linebreak)
Outside the dragons were continuing to dodge the arrows as the hunters continued to fire at them.
"Look out!" Hiccup warned Toothless, alerting him to the six arrows coming at them. "Hang on, Astrid!" The Night Fury had to make a sharp turn to dodge them, but doing so accidentally knocked Astrid off the saddle.
"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled as she fell. This was definitely NOT part of the plan.
"Come on, bud, dive!" Hiccup urged. Toothless immediately dove down for Astrid with Hiccup extending his arm out to the blonde girl once they were close enough. "Grab my hand! Astrid!" Astrid extended her arm, but before she could grab his hand, Toothless had to make another sharp turn otherwise he would have been hit by another arrow. "No!" Hiccup exclaimed as his dragon flew him higher.
"Don't worry, bro. We can still get her out of there." Hicca reassured him, reminding him of the plan.
Hiccup nodded as they continued to dodge.
(Linebreak)
"Help us. Please!" Fishlegs pleaded to the two guards standing outside his cell. "I think she stopped breathing." The guards still stood there. "You think your boss is gonna want his new dragon to die? And on your watch!"
One of the guards sighed and went to open the cell door. As soon as he did, he was tackled by a perfectly fine Meatlug.
The other guard moved to attack, only to get pinned on the wall by spines, courtesy of Stormfly from her cell.
"I wouldn't make a sound if I were you. Stormfly can shoot a flea off a yak's tail from 20 yards." Fishlegs threatened the one pinned to the wall, silencing him.
Fishlegs then took the keys from the unconscious guard and used it to unlock Stormfly cell, setting her free.
"What happened?" The unconscious guy murmured stirring, only to get knocked back out of it by Meatlug and her tail just before the three prisoners made their escape.
"Hey! Come on! Let me go! Let go of me!" Astrid struggled in the hands of the soldiers.
"Oh, feisty one, aren't you? I like her spirit." Ryker commented, smug at having another prisoner. "Throw her in a cell."
"You're gonna be sorry! You're messing with the wrong Vikings." Astrid warned as the hunters took her away.
"Well, so are you." Ryker replied.
Suddenly the passage to the cells were blasted and out emerged Fishlegs, Meatlug and Stormfly. Caught off-guard by the blasts, the hunters let go of Astrid and she quickly ran to her dragon. "Stormfly!"
"It worked!" Raeda exclaimed.
"Now!" Hiccup ordered.
The rest of the Dragon Riders flew in to prepare the cover fire.
Despite chaos, Ryker didn't even flinch. "Fire."
All of a sudden two bolas were fired and captured Stormfly and Meatlug. Fishlegs and Astrid were then restrained by a few of the hunters.
"What?!" Hicca said, shocked by the sudden turn of events.
"It didn't work." Hiccup said, equally shocked. He then registered the arrows. "Evasive action! Now!"
Toothless, Midnight, Sparkfire, Hookfang, Barf and Belch quickly flew to get themselves and their riders safe from the relentless hunters. Unfortunately, Barf and Belch got hit.
"Not good!" Tuffnut yelled, as the Zippleback started spinning out of control.
"Getting worse!" Ruffnut exclaimed
"We're going down!" the blonde twins yelled before falling on the saddle of their dragon.
Hookfang also got hit. "We're hit! Whoa! Hookfang! Help!" Snotlout yelled. Luckily, Toothless swooped in and grabbed Hookfangs' tail with Snotlout hanging onto the saddle.
"Your pathetic tricks won't work on me. I'm a Dragon Hunter!" Ryker exclaimed to the Dragon Riders. "I know that Gronckles are immune to dragon root." He looked at the two teenagers captured on his ship. "I used your worthless escape plan to lure your friends in closer."
"Coming in hot and blowin' out snot!" Tuffnut yelled, keeping his arms crossed on his chest. He, his sister and their dragon fell into the ocean, where a net awaited, capturing all four of them.
Hicca then spotted one of the arrows heading straight to Sparkfire. "Midnight plasma blast!" The Night Fury quickly blasted the arrow, saving Sparkfire. However, she couldn't save herself from getting hit. "Oh, no!"
"Hicca!" Hiccup and Raeda yelled. Toothless gave out a roar in panic.
But before either of them could make a move to save them, someone beat them to it.
"Wildstar?" Hicca asked, looking at the dragon who grabbed Midnight.
On the ship, Ryker was also surprised at what he was seeing. "So he's with them?"
Wildstar quickly flew her passengers to the others still in the air. "We need to get out of here now or we're all going to get captured!" Henry said.
"I second that!" Snotlout called.
"Hiccup?" Raeda questioned.
Knowing they had no choice, Hiccup complied. "Fall back everyone!"
Toothless, Sparkfire and Wildstar quickly flew away from the ship. That's when Sandstorm, Sandtrapper, Scout and Lockjaw came and fired into the water, creating a fog to keep the hunters from following them.
"They're getting away!" One of the hunters yelled
"Let them." Ryker ordered calmly.
"But sir, the boy-"
"I saw him. And something tells me I'll see him again soon." Ryker said, looking at the four captured teens and their dragons. "Take them to the cells, and keep their dragons separate."
"Where are our dragons? What did you do to them?" Astrid demanded as she and the other three teens were shoved into a cage.
"Oh, if I were you, I'd worry about yourself." Was all Ryker said, before locked the doors on them. The four teens glared at them, but they quickly became shocked at the new arrival.
"Heather?" Astrid called.
"No way." Tuffnut said.
"Run!" Astrid urged, now worried for her.
But to their surprise, she just stood there calmly.
As if they weren't shocked enough, there was another familiar person to greet them. "Surprise! Did ya miss me? Of course you did! Oh! Do you know my sister?" He gestured to Heather who was smirking at them. "Wait a minute, sure you do! You guys were little pals and buddy buddies."
"Hey, family is family." Heather said to the stunned teens. Dagur and the hunters leave them to get reacquainted.
"I can't believe this, Heather." Astrid said, shaking her head.
"I know it's not Dragon's Edge, but it'll have to do. Enjoy your new home, Astrid. You're gonna be here a while." Heather said, walking away.
(Linebreak)
After getting a good distance away from the ships. Henry had his dragons land at a nearby island, having Wildstar carefully set Midnight down first before landing.
"Thank you so much for saving us, Henry." Hicca said.
Henry nodded and pulled the arrow off Midnight. "The effects are temporary." He told her.
Toothless and Sparkfire then landed. The male Night Fury was careful to set Hookfang down before rushing to Midnights' side.
Hiccup went to Henry. "Okay first of all, I am forever grateful that you were able to rescue my sister. Genuinely. So please don't take offense when I ask how in the world did you find us?"
"My question as well." Raeda said, raising her hand. She would've found this romantic, if it wasn't for the situation at hand.
"Gobber mentioned you guys having something called the Dragon Eye." Henry said.
"Yeah." Hicca answered, taking said object out of her bag.
"You need to get rid of it." He said, surprising the other four teens. "If the Dragon Hunters find out you have it. They'll come after you."
"Hey we found it first, it's ours!" Snotlout said.
"And where did you get it?" Henry asked
"On the Reapers ship. Their ship." Hiccup realized.
"But right now they don't know that we have it, so we don't have to worry about that." Raeda pointed out. "Instead, we need to come up with a plan to rescue our friends."
"You want a plan?" Henry asked. "Trade the Dragon Eye for your friends. You get your friends back and the Hunters won't come after you. All they care about is their business. Anyone who gets in their way will perish."
"But if we give them the Dragon Eye, they can use it to hunt down other dragons." Hiccup protested.
That's when Hicca noticed the familiar mark on Henrys' arm. "Henry that mark. We saw the same mark on their sails." She said referring to the hunters ships.
The others noticed it before Henry could cover it. He didn't say a word.
"You're a part of their tribe." Hiccup realised. Henry didn't argue against that.
Even with that reveal, the teens just couldn't see him as an enemy. Not with the five dragons hovering protectively over him.
"But you have five dragons-" Raeda started to say.
"Who helped me escape." Henry said. "My dad is the leader of the Dragon Hunters. He knows more about dragons and the Dragon Eye than any of us can understand. He's not going to get out-smarted by a bunch of teens, and definitely not by his own son who barely managed to escape."
The teens were at a loss for what to say until Hicca spoke up. "Henry, I'm sor-"
"Don't." He said, looking at her. "You saved two of my dragons. I've returned one favor by rescuing you. Take my advice, trade the Dragon Eye for your friends freedom. You already saw what happened when you tried to go against them."
But the teens weren't fazed. "Henry, I'm sure you've stayed at Berk long enough to know that we don't do things the simple way." Raeda said.
"Rae's right. We are going to save our friends and keep the Dragon Eye from falling into the Dragon Hunters hands." Hiccup said with determination.
"And with this five thousand pounds of flaming muscles and the warrior who owns him, we can't fail." Snotlout boasted, gesturing to Hookfang and himself.
Henry looked at them in disbelief.
"You can help us, Henry." Hicca said. "Join us. You know about the Hunters-"
"No amount of knowledge from me is going to help!" Henry said. "They already saw me help you. They will think I'm working with you and they will be ready for that! I've tried to outsmart my dad multiple times and failed almost every time! If you guys are smart, you will not try to cross them again!"
"Well, then we're not smart." Hiccup said, crossing his arms.
"Well, some of us aren't…" Snotlout trailed, not-so-discreetly pointing at Hiccup.
Henry scoffed at the group. "You want to be idiots and face them again go ahead. I warned you. I'm not going to put my dragons at risk for a bunch of teens who are way in over their heads!" He said, getting back on Wildstar. He whistled at his other dragons and they flew off.
"Hey!" Snotlout exclaimed, but Hicca stopped him.
"Let him go. We can't force him into this fight."
"Sis is right." Hiccup said. "We need to find a way to rescue the others.