Chapter 16: Night of the Hunters Part 2
Previously on Race to the Edge
While on a morning flight, Astrid encounters the Dragon Hunters, who kidnapped Stormfly and left her stranded at sea. After getting rescued by Hiccup and the others, the Dragon Riders set off on a mission to rescue Stormfly. Their search led them to discover a new Dragon Eye Lens which led them to the Dragon Hunters. A rescue plan was set in motion, but failed when the leader of the hunters, Ryker, saw right through their plan, leading to Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut to get captured along with their dragons. Henry unexpectedly swooped in and led the remaining Dragon Riders away from the hunters, but left along with his dragons. Now, it's up to Hiccup, Hicca, Raeda, Snotlout and their dragons to rescue their friends.
On the Dragon Hunters ship, the captured teens were left to process what just happened.
"Dagur is here and Heather is with him? I don't believe it." Fishlegs said.
"Trusting her turned out to be a big mistake." Astrid gritted, mad at Heather for turning her back to them after all they have done for her.
"Yeah, who puts loyalty to their brother ahead of loyalty to their friends?" Ruffnut questioned.
"I heard that, sister!" Her twin agreed, leaning on the bars.
"The bigger question is who are these Dragon Hunters and what do they want with us?" Astrid wondered.
"You're about to find out." Heather answered, as she and a few of the Dragon Hunters approached their cell.
The guards opened the door and pulled Astrid, weapons ready in case one of the teens tried something.
"Ryker wants to have a little chat with you." Heather said to Astrid as they pushed her forward, locking the door on the other three.
"You're lucky these guards are here or I'd take your head off." Astrid threatened.
Heather shoved her forward. "You'd try."
"After everything we did for you, took you in, taught you to ride, saved your life more than once." The blonde girl questioned.
"And I thank you for all of that but I have to follow my destiny." The raven-haired girl said firmly.
"Betraying your friends and joining these Dragon Hunter scum?"
"Hey. You don't know what it's like to be truly alone, Astrid." Heather defended. "Dagur is my brother. I trust him with my life."
Astrid snorted at that. Someone trusting Dagur the Deranged? "You'll regret that. Believe me."
"Hm. Well, your concern is touching, but if I were you, I'd be more worried about myself." They stopped at one of the rooms, and Heather knocked on the door.
"Come." The voice inside answered.
"Ryker wants information and he can be very persuasive." Heather said as the guards led the captured girl inside.
(Linebreak)
The sun rises and shined on the camp set up a safe distance away from the Dragon Hunters ships.
"Morning, bud." Hiccup greeted, as his dragon woke up. Snotlout followed. "Hey, Snotlout. You up?"
"Yes. Somebody snores." Snotlout said, gesturing to Hookfang. The Monstrous Nightmare retaliated by snorting smoke to his rider face. "Hookfang!"
Sparkfire and Midnight brings some fish they caught and Snotlout was happy to see that. "Great. I am starving. We'll cook these up and-" He was about to grab one of the fish, but Hookfang bet him to it and ate it up. "Okay. Okay, all right. Okay." The human tried to grab another one, only for his dragon to eat that as well. "No. Stop it." Hookfang then went for a third fish. "Hey! Hey! Gimme that!"
"Did he not notice the already cooked fish?" Hicca questioned, looking at said food that she prepared a while ago.
"Nope. That's what you get for being unobservant." Raeda said, taking one of the cooked fish and eating it.
"Looks like Midnight and Hookfang are feeling better." Hiccup commented.
"Yep, Henry was right, the effects of the dragon root arrows are temporary. I'd say about three hours." Hicca noted.
After watching Snotlout wrestle (and lose to) Hookfang for a fish, Raeda got tired of it. "Hey, Snot." She called, getting his attention. She pointed to the cooked fish, which Snotlout quickly dove for. Once he started eating, he noticed the Haddock twins looking at a map. "What are you two doing?" He asked with his mouth full.
"Trying to figure out where the Dragon Hunters are headed." Hiccup answered.
"That's a bad idea. Even if we find them, they have those 'one-shot and you drop' poison arrows." Snotlout pointed out. "What do we do then?
"Well, I have no idea." Hiccup admitted.
"Me neither." Hicca said.
Snotlout was actually surprised to hear that. "I gotta be honest. That's not the answer I was hoping for." Hookfang took Snotlouts' moment of distraction to hit him with one of the fishes. "Hookfang!" Snotlout growled grabbing the fish. "Okay, we always knew this could happen. The day has come. The Haddock twins have gone dry. It's up to Snotfang to come up with a plan. Just squeeze some brilliance out of this thick, beautiful skull." And he did that by hitting the fish against his helmet.
Raeda sat down next to Sparkfire. "Honestly the only thing I can think off for the arrows is a dragon-sized armour."
"But that extra weight will hinder our dragons flights, decreasing their speeds." Hicca pointed out.
Raeda shrugged, unable to fill in the blanks.
The twins' eyes then lit up. "Wait sis, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Hiccup asked.
"We need to go here?" Hicca asked, eagerly pointing to a place on the map. Her brother nodded.
"We got it!" The twins announced, stopping Snotlout from hitting himself with the fish.
The Jorgenson boy was not happy at that "I would've come up with something. I was so close."
"Come on, guys, we've got some hard riding to do." Hiccup said, as he and his sister got on their dragons.
"Where are we going?" Raeda asked.
"You'll see." Was all Hicca said.
(Linebreak)
Astrid was finally brought back to the cell with the others.
"Astrid, are you okay?" Fishlegs asked, as soon as the hunters left them.
"Just tired. They questioned me all night. Wouldn't let me sleep." Astrid said with a yawn.
"They?"
"Dagur and Heather mostly. That Ryker guy doesn't say much. He just stares."
"Yeah, but you hung tough. You didn't crack. You never talked. Way to go, Astrid." Ruffnut praised.
"Actually, I did talk." Astrid admitted.
"Oh. Way to go, Astrid." Ruffnut repeated, this time in disappointment.
"I told Ryker what he wanted to know. The location of the Dragon Eye." The Hofferson girl explained.
"They're after the Dragon Eye?" Fishlegs questioned
"It's very important to the Dragon Hunters. They've been looking for it for a long time."
"And where did you tell them it was, loose-lips?" Ruffnut asked.
"Back at Dragon's Edge where it's being guarded by all the other riders we left behind." Astrid answered, very loudly.
Tuffnut was confused by that. "What? No one's-"
"Supposed to know about it. I know." Astrid quickly cut in.
Fishlegs quickly caught on to what Astrid was trying to do. "Yeah, Dragon's Edge is like a fortress. Lots of Dragon Riders." He added, also loud.
"Under the command of 'Captain Gustav'." Astrid threw in.
"Wait. "Captain Gustav"? He outranks me?" Tuffnut questioned, still not catching on.
"Only thing I could think of to keep them from sailing in and taking over Dragon's Edge." Astrid whispered.
"Ha! And they bought it?" Ruffnut laughed.
"For now." Astrid hushed. "But eventually, Ryker will send someone down there to check it out."
"You bought us time." Fishlegs said.
"Exactly. We need to get out of here before they find out I was bluffing. Any ideas?"
It was Tuffnut who had one. "Way ahead of you. I have the perfect plan. We tunnel out." He produced a mug he somehow had with him and tried to dig out a tunnel.
The others gave him blank stares.
"Through the bottom of the boat?" Astrid asked blankly.
"Into the middle of the sea?" Fishlegs asked rhetorically.
"Exactly. They will never see it coming, even I won't!" Tuffnut exclaimed, fully invested in his plan. "Especially because I don't know how to swim. Okay, mental note, learn to swim. By tomorrow, or mid next week."
As he tried to dig, the other three decided to come up with a better plan.
(Linebreak)
Back with the other group, the Haddock twins were leading the other two teens to their destination which they have yet to reveal where it is.
"Is that the island we're going to?" Snotlout asked, pointing below.
"No." Hiccup answered.
"How about that one?" Snotlout asked.
"Also no." Hicca answered.
"That one?"
Hiccup was getting annoyed. "For the last time-"
"Hiccup wait." His sister said, pointing to island Snotlout was referring to.
"Oh, yeah, that's exactly the one. My bad." Hiccup said sheepishly.
Raeda looked at the island they were heading to and her eyes widened in recognition. "Oh boy."
She wasn't the only one who recognised it. "Hiccup, Hicca, I recognize these holes. Why didn't you tell us we were going to an island of Whispering Deaths?" Snotlout demanded.
"Because we knew you would react exactly like this." Hicca explained.
"Besides, this isn't an island full of Whispering Deaths. Somebody else lives here, too." Hiccup stated as they landed.
That somebody else just emerged from one of the larger holes in the ground. And it seemed to be very territorial.
"Oh, the Screaming Death? Why don't we wave him over and have him kill us?" Snotlout said sarcastically.
Even Raeda was feeling doubtful, seeing the hostile dragon. "Okay guys, in the past I've agreed to let Astrid handle some of our training, I've agreed to join in a search for the Flightmare, I've even agreed to let you set me on fire! But I think this might be the time where I agree with Snotlout. What is the point of this?!"
"Both of you relax. When he gets closer, he'll recognize us and calm down." Hiccup reassured.
The Screaming Death just glared at them.
"Are you sure?" Raeda asked.
"Positive." Hicca said, though her confidence wavered.
"Come on out to Screaming Death Island. We'll have a few laughs. Get killed." Snotlout mocked.
The Screaming Death then charged after them. "Worst plan ever." Snotlout said as the dragon flew them out of the attacking dragons way. "This guy hates us. Let's get out of here."
"Have you forgotten? We reunited him with his mother." Hiccup reminded him.
"No, but it looks like he has." The brawny boy retorted.
"I know it's been a long time since we've seen him, but we don't look that different do we?" Hicca wondered as the Screaming Death began chasing them.
"Come on, bud. Faster!" Hiccup urged Toothless. The two Night Furies were ahead of the group as Hookfang and Sparkfire flew at full speed.
"Or maybe he does remember what we did and he just has a lousy relationship with his mom?" Snotlout suggested.
"Ungrateful fool." Raeda commented.
Hiccup looked up in the air for a place to head. "Head for those clouds. As soon as we enter, bank right."
The group followed what he did keeping them camouflaged from the Screaming Death who flew away to look for them.
"The plan is, wait till he tires himself out then head home, right?" Snotlout asked.
"Please tell me we're not going to try to lure him all the way to the Hunters so that he can have a go at them." Raeda pleaded.
"Nope. We're going back down there." Hicca informed the other two. "There's something in those tunnels we need."
The Haddock twins guided their dragons into the Screaming Deaths hole. Raeda and Sparkfire followed after them.
"Why can't you ever say yes to my plan?" Snotlout complained, before he and Hookfang flew after them.
(Linebreak)
Back at the cell on the hunters ship, the only escape plan set was Tuffnut's tunnel-digging plan. Until Fishlegs managed to wrestle the mug from the other blonde boy and threw it out the cell.
The Thorston boy wasn't ready to quit. "How about this? We set our cell on fire and-"
"Uh, no!" Fishlegs interrupted.
"I have an idea, we-" Ruffnut started to say.
"How about psychological warfare?" Fishlegs suggested. "We learn our guards' names. Get them to like us, and then eventually they'll lower their guard and-"
"Boring." Tuffnut commented.
Ruffnut tried again. "What if-"
Her brother interrupted her. "Acid!"
Ruffnut huffed in annoyance. "Okay, fine. Shutting down the Ruffnut idea farm. No milk served here."
"But the Tuffnut idea farm has a mighty fine harvest. We use acid to cut through the bars!" Tuffnut exclaimed.
"And where do we get the acid?" Astrid asked dryly.
"I'm still working that out." Tuffnut said.
"That plan won't work anymore than your 'Ruffnut marries the guard, divorces him and gets the key in the settlement' plan." The Hofferson girl commented.
Their brainstorming was then interrupted by Heather. "Ryker wants to see you." She announced.
"Me?" Fishlegs asked, noticing Heather was looking at him.
"No, all of you. Let's go." Heather said opening the cage door where Dagur and some of the guards awaited them.
They walked through the passage of cages where Ryker waited for them. "I am Ryker. This is my ship." Ryker announced to the prisoners. "You are my prisoners. And your dragons are now my dragons."
"And how they get treated is entirely up to you." Dagur piped in as they walked along the cages.
Fishlegs then spotted his beloved dragon in one of the cages. "Meatlug!" He watched as the poor Gronckle was force-fed rocks to produce lava.
"This Gronckle is being very helpful." Ryker commented.
"Her name is Meatlug." The Ingerman boy growled.
"I don't care. All I care about is that it makes me metal, all day and all night." Ryker said coldly.
They then walked the prisoners over to Stormfly's cage, where the Nadder was pushed to fire her spikes at the shields being held by the hunters.
Ryker grabbed one of the spikes. "Hm, perfect. Razor sharp tips for our spears and ballistas."
"You can't do that to her." Astrid protested.
Ryker was still unaffected. "Oh, I can. And I will." They continued forward.
"Poor Barf and Belch. What torture are they enduring?" Ruffnut said to her brother.
"I can't look." Tuffnut said, covering his eyes. "Because my hands are over my eyes." He opened his eyes and to his and his sister's surprise Barf and Belch were actually being well taken care off. They were being fish while enjoying a massage, it was like a dragon spa for them. "Well, this is more like it. Someone recognizes quality."
"He likes the fish." One of the hunters commented.
"Hey, rub me down with some of that grease. I'm feeling dry." Ruffnut requested.
"This hide'll fetch top prices in the Northern Markets." Ryker said.
"Sure. It's soft and supple, the color... Oh, the col-" Tuffnut started to agree before he realised what his captor said. "Wait. What?"
"Ooh, Zippleback boots. I always wanted a pair." Dagur said excitedly.
"This is what faces all your dragons. Of course, they could get better treatment." Ryker informed the prisoners.
"Don't just leave me hanging. How?" Ruffnut asked.
"Start giving me some real answers!" Ryker demanded, grabbing Fishlegs by the tunic. "Tell me what you know about the Dragon Eye. Exactly how many riders guard your base?" He shook the blonde boy before letting him go. The four prisoners exchanged looks, before glaring back at their captors, refusing to say anything. "Very well. Keep fattening this one up. More to sell."
"Please! Please, don't hurt our dragon. I'll do anything." Ruffnut suddenly exclaimed, hugging one of the guards.
"Then tell me what I want to know." Ryker demanded.
"Come on. Ruff. Stop. Thorstons don't beg." Tuffnut protested. "Except for food, or money, or housing." He recalled as his sister slid down to the guards boots. "Or any other thing that we need. Hmm, you know what? This isn't a good argument."
"You want to save your dragon? Then give me some information." Ryker said.
"No, never!" Ruffnut suddenly said, getting up. "Huh? Sorry. Lost my head there for a second."
"Interesting. Something you and your dragon may soon have in common." The leader commented before turning to the guards. "Get them out of my sight."
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile the rest of the Dragon Riders were flying through the Screaming Death's tunnels.
"Did the Screaming Death look even bigger to any of you?" Snotlout wondered.
"I didn't even think that was possible." Raeda commented.
"It was a newly hatched dragon last time we saw him. Of course he would have grown over time." Hicca informed them.
"That's what Hicca and I were counting on." Hiccup said.
"Oh, really? Thanks for letting us know." Snotlout said sarcastically, referring to himself and Raeda.
"Because if he grew that means he had to molt." Hiccup continued. "And if he shed his skin, there should be old scales around here somewhere."
"Like those!" Hicca said, pointing to said scales on the ground.
That's when Raeda and Snotlout started figuring out the plan.
"Finally found the method to this madness." Raeda said.
"If you two are thinking what I think you're thinking, I think your thinking is the worst plan ever." Snotlout commented.
"Well, I disagree." Hiccup said.
"Same." Hicca said.
"Sorry Snotlout, I'm siding back with them on this." Raeda said.
"I stand corrected. There was that whole 'let Meatlug get captured' idea." The Jorgenson boy reminded them. "That was genius. Really brilliant. A work of art."
The dragons landed and the humans got off the saddles. "Come on. Let's get to work." Hiccup said, picking up some of the scales. "We probably have an hour or two before the Screaming Death-"
He was interrupted by a roar inside the tunnels.
"No one panic, it will be fine." Hicca reassured.
"Hicca, stop acting like you're friends. You don't know this dragon and he clearly doesn't know you." Snotlout said.
"Toothless, Midnight, Hicca and I will draw his fire. You guys try to make it outta here with as many scales as you can carry." Hiccup instructed Snotlout and Raeda.
That's when the Screaming Death arrived, blocking their passage.
"Hiccup? Hicca?" Snotlout called.
"No, don't even say it." Hiccup said.
"We're gonna die." The brawny boy said, grabbing one of the scales to shield himself.
The larger dragon was about to attack them, when suddenly a Whispering Death arrived and roared at him.
"What just happened? Did we die?" Snotlout asked, lowering the scale.
"Nope, we got saved." Hicca said, smiling.
"The Screaming Death didn't remember us, but it looks like his mother did." Hiccup said. The Haddock twins stepped forward to the Whispering Death and extended their right hands. The Whispering Death nuzzled into their touch, clearly remembering the two who reunited her with her son. "Okay, we're good." Hiccup said, lowering his hand. "Now get those scales together, fast!"
(Linebreak)
Since getting back to their cell, the four teens continued their brainstorming. "What if we tunnel through the ceiling?" Tuffnut suggested.
"Technically, that's not a tunnel." Fishlegs said.
"Oh! It isn't? There's no such thing as a ceiling tunnel, Fishlegs?" The Thorston boy argued.
Ruffnut tried to interject. "Guys, I have-"
"Listen up." Astrid interrupted. "I've memorized the guards' schedules and I have a plan. But we need a way to get this door open first."
She, Fishlegs and Tuffnut were suddenly taken aback by a key Ruffnut brought in her hand. "You mean like this key I stole from the guard?"
Astrid spoke up. "Wait. But, how did you-"
[Flashback]
Back to where Ryker threatened the teens with their dragons, Ruffnut suddenly hugged one of the guards, begging him not to hurt her dragon.
What no one noticed was that in doing so she was able to sneakily nab a few things, including the key to their cell.
[End Flashback]
Ruffnut watched in satisfaction as the other three looked at her with stunned expressions. "Yeah, you guys should try listening to me every now and again. Ruffnut idea farm. Back in business."
Astrid snapped out of her shock and grabbed the key. "All right. As soon as I take out the guards, we split up and get our dragons. Then we blast our way outta here."
"Okay, and go where?" The Thorston boy asked.
"Straight up. Out of the range of those arrows." Astrid answered as she carefully used the key to unlock the door. She then took the key off and left the door closed. "Guard! Guard! I can't take it. I want to save my dragon. I'll tell Ryker what he wants to know." She then called.
One of the guards came rushing to the cell and as soon as he was in front of them, Astrid slammed the door at him, knocking him out.
That caught the attention of another guard and Astrid quickly closed the cell door. As soon as the other guard went to check up on his comrade, Astrid did the same thing, knocking the second guard out as well.
The Hofferson girl then checked both sides to make sure the coast was clear before opening the door to free them.
"Okay. One last thing, if this is like the other Dragon Hunter ship, there could be booby traps anywhere, so be careful." Astrid said to the other three before running off.
"Oh, great. Now she tells us." Tuffnut complained.
"See you up there." Fishlegs said to the twins.
"He means up in the sky, right? Not Valhalla?" The Thorston boy asked his twin.
"Not sure. Let's ask him." His twin replied. They were about to ask Fishlegs, when they discovered he left. "Oh, he's gone."
Fishlegs wasted no time rushing to Meatlug's cage, relieved to discover it was clear of any guards and unlocked. "Meatlug! Oh, I missed you too, girl." He exclaimed, hugging his dragon. "We're getting out of here. Just let me check on something first." He went to inspect the weapons on the wall. "Gronckle Iron, I knew it! They must have the formula. Hm, now what was that guy feeding you?"
He was well-aware of the danger of the situation, however his mind couldn't let him leave. He spent so long trying to figure out the formula for Gronckle and now seemed like the golden opportunity to finally do so. It would definitely help the riders to have this information.
Astrid found her dragons cage as well. "Hey, girl. You didn't think I'd leave you here, did you?" She was about to step forward, until she looked down and realised one of the planks looked different from the others. She then stepped over it and went to free her dragon.
"Barf, Belch. We are here to save you." Ruffnut announced as she and her brother entered their cage.
But the Zippleback couldn't be bothered by their riders arrival, as both heads continued to eat the fishes in the barrel nearby.
"You heard her, you pampered lizard. We're here to rescue you, so let's go." Tuffnut urged. But the Zippleback didn't even move. "Looks like somebody forgot who the boss is."
"Yeah! Who's the boss?" Ruffnut asked her brother. The twins then tried to pull their dragon to get up.
This only caused Tuffnut to stumbled back and accidentally step on one of the booby traps! "Uh-oh."
That trap set off an alarm that alerted all the Dragon Hunters of the prison break.
Fishlegs was still inspecting the rocks. "If I could just find out what the last ingredient was." He turned to see some of the guards have entered Meatlugs cage and were pointing their crossbows at him. "Oh."
The Thorston twins continued to try to get their dragon up.
"Come on! Come on! We're trying to save you." Ruffnut grunted.
"You're gonna get us caught." Tuffnut added.
It was too late as they too were suddenly held at sword-point by the guards.
"Hey, what are you guys up to?" Ruffnut asked them, trying to be casual.
Astrid had just finished setting Stormfly free when Heather suddenly entered the cell.
"You're not going anywhere, Astrid." The green-eyed girl said.
"Maybe not. But I'm really going to enjoy this." Astrid replied, cracking her knuckles.
"Oh, I doubt that." Heather smirked. She used her double axe to close the cell door.
The other three teens were then brought before Ryker and Dagur.
"Did I, or did I not warn you about them? They never quit." Dagur said to Ryker. "Annoying."
That's when Heather came with Astrid in tow. She shoved the Hofferson girl towards her friends.
Dagur then turned to Ryker. "Ryker, Rykey, Ryker-man. Can we please just work together on this? You know dragons. I know Dragon Riders."
"And?" The taller man asked in disinterest.
"Send a message. Throw one over the side. It'll be so fun. Ooh." Dagur chuckled.
"An excellent idea." Heather spoked up. "Unless, of course, you think Viggo might want to question them personally about the Dragon Eye. I have a better idea. Why not put them to work?"
"I'd prefer to go overboard." Tuffnut chipped in.
"Uh-huh." Ruffnut nodded.
Heather ignored them and continued. "Split them up so they can't plot any more escapes. And make them serve you, as their dragons do."
That caught Ryker's interest. "You know? I like that idea. Put 'em to work! But the next one who tries to escape goes over the side." The teens were then separated and given work to do. Ryker turned to Dagur. "Well, it's obvious who got the brains in your family, eh?"
"Oh, I get it, that's a-'' Dagur faked a laugh until Ryker left. As soon as he left Dagur turned to his sister. "What was that all about, sis?"
"I was protecting you, brother." Heather explained. "From what you told me about him, I doubt Viggo takes kindly to losing valuable property. If anything happens to the riders, let Ryker be on the hook for it, not you."
Dagur thought about it for a second and laughed, putting his hands on her shoulders. "You are my sister, aren't you?" He then gave her a hug.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile the rescue team were back at their camp stitching all the Screaming Death scales they gathered.
Hiccup looked at Snotlout's work and was impressed. "That's amazing. You're almost done already. And Snotlout, your workmanship…"
"It's as good as mine and Raedas." Hicca commented.
It was no surprise that Hicca and Raeda could sew perfectly, the former learning as part of her healer training and the latter have made a lot of tapestries. But Snotlout really surprised all three of them with how well he was doing.
"I honestly thought you were going to complain the whole time, but I gotta admit, I'm impressed as well." Raeda admitted.
"My mother taught me everything I know." Snotlout said.
"Well, if this works, remind me to thank her." Hiccup said.
Raeda took another look at Snotlout's work. "Did you do a cross-stitch?" She asked.
"Yep."
"Well that's still good, but wouldn't a lock-stitch have been better?"
"Look Rae, you can be a know-it-all in all other things art related, but in sewing, I'm on the same level as. I know what I'm doing and I will stay with cross-stitch!"
"That's all we need." Hicc said. "Next step, find those Dragon Hunters."
(Linebreak)
At the Dragon Hunters ship, Tuffnut and Astrid were made to sweep the deck.
Tuffnut turned to Astrid. "So, let me get this straight, Heather took you down all by herself?"
"She had an axe." Astrid defended.
"Yes, and you had arms, which are axes without blades." The Thorston boy countered.
"Ugh!" Astrid groaned, continuing to sweep.
"This is yet another argument for why I say always carry an axe." Tuffnut said. He then noticed a Dragon Hunter glaring at him and went back to work. "I mean, cleaning. Yeah, my fine fellow."
Below deck, Ruffnut had to scrub Barf and Belch. Barf decided to give his rider a lick.
But Ruffnut wasn't having it. "Don't try and make up with me, mister. This is your fault." Belch then gave her a nudge. "Don't you go taking his side, other mister. You're in this, too."
Fishlegs was in Meatlugs' cage and had to sort through the rocks. He took this chance to note the ingredients to Gronckle iron. "Three parts limestone, two parts sandstone, one part iron ore, one giant spoon of hardened Gronckle lava, yeah!" He exclaimed, finally getting his answer. He then saw the hunter glaring at him. "Right, right, back to the sorting."
Above deck it seemed that Astrid and Tuffnut haven't finished their discussion.
"How do you not get that having an axe is a huge advantage in a fight?" Astrid snapped.
"It isn't if you have a mace." Tuffnut argued.
"I didn't have a mace, or a sword, or a crossbow!" Astrid listed in exasperation.
"Now we're getting hypothetical? I bet you didn't have eyes that could shoot fire either." Tuffnut countered.
Astrid was contemplating throwing the boy overboard herself when one of the Dragon Hunters suddenly yelled.
"Dragons sighted off the starboard bow. With riders!"
Dagur looked up and immediately recognised them. "It's Hiccup, Hicca, Raeda and Snot-hat."
"Stand by catapults. Archers at the ready. Wait till they're in range." Ryker ordered.
"Hicca, Hiccup, as far as worst plans go, this has to be, by far, your best worst plan ever." Snotlout said.
"Is that supposed to be an insult or a compliment?" Hicca questioned.
"For now, let's take that as a compliment, sis." Hiccup said.
The group then dove straight to the ships.
"Oh, look at! They're coming straight in! Suicide run! I-I didn't think the twins had it in them!" Dagur exclaimed, getting excited.
"The fool." Ryker said.
"Hiccup and Hicca are no fools." Heather said, knowing them too well. "What are they up to?"
"Well, I'll be sure to ask them after I knock them out of the sky!" Ryker said. "Hunters, fire at will!"
The Hunters fired right at the dragons as they flew by.
"Oh, oh! Look!" Dagur exclaimed. But it was premature when he noticed none of the dragons losing their flight. "Uh, what is going on?" He took out a spyglass to get a better look. "They're wearing some sort of dragon armor!"
Ryker prepared his sword. "Come at me."
No longer having to worry about the arrows, Toothless, Midnight, Sparkfire and Hookfang started firing at the ships.
Astrid took that as their cue. "Now or never." She said to Tuffnut, grabbing her broom.
The blonde boy nodded and grabbed his broom as well. He started beating up the nearest Dragon Hunter with it. "I. Hate. Cleaning. A lot, as you can see."
"Yeah? Well, it looks like there's some more cleaning up to do." Astrid said, fighting off a few hunters herself.
The blast started shaking the ship and below deck, Fishlegs decided to take that opportunity as the soldier toppled over. He grabbed one of the Gronckle-iron axe and swiftly cut Meatlugs chains, The Dragon Hunter got up and Fishlegs just gave his dragon one command. "Hug!"
That command led to the hunter getting tackled by the freed Gronckle.
Ruffnut also decided to escape, except she only had fishes as her weapons. Nonetheless, she still used them to fight, only succeeding in slapping the guard. The guard then shoved her to the ground getting Barf and Belchs' attention. The two-headed dragon growled at the man who dared to attack his rider and knocked him out.
The Zippleback heads then checked on Ruffnut, who sat up. "Okay, that's a start, but don't even think for a second that we are close to being even, misters." She said.
Above the ship, Snotlout noticed Toothless armor was starting to come undone. "Your armor's loose. Raeda was right, I should have used a lock stitch, not a cross stitch. Stupid, Snotlout, stupid." He hit his helmet. "Oh, mom's gonna be so disappointed in me."
Hiccup didn't have time to worry about that. "Let's hope it holds. Now, let's help Raeda and Hicca take out those two support ships." They flew to the girls.
. "Let's go get our dragons." Astrid said to Tuffnut once they subdued the hunters on deck.
Heather watched Astrid run below deck. "She's mine."
Astrid quickly made her way to the cage and freed Stormfly once again. "Stormfly, we're leaving." That's when Heather came. "Don't you ever give up?"
"Don't you?" Heather came.
Above deck, Dagur glared at the dragons blasting the ships until he noticed Toothless' loose armour. "He's lost some of his armor. We've got him now!" He announced, pointing at Toothless.
"Men! Concentrate all fire on the boy and his Night Fury." He ordered.
Noticing their target. Raeda quickly flew Sparkfire to cover Toothless' weak spot. "Got your back." She said to Hiccup, as the arrows bounced off Sparkfires' armour.
Ryker growled and took one of the bow and arrow. "Looks like I'll have to do this myself." He aimed the arrow at Toothless.
But he was distracted when a green gas started to fill the deck. Before he could react, the gas exploded, throwing him off. Stormfly, Meatlug, Barf and Belch emerged with their riders on their backs.
"I told you, you were messing with the wrong Vikings." Astrid said to Ryker as they joined the group in the air.
Reunited, the Dragon Riders and dragons made their escape.
Ryker had no choice but to watch as they leave. "I may have underestimated these Dragon Riders."
"Did I see Dagur on that ship? Is he with the Dragon Hunters?" Hiccup asked Astrid, Fishlegs and the Thorston twins.
"Not just Dagur!" Ruffnut said.
"Hiccup, we have a lot to talk about." Astrid said, deciding to fill them in when they reached the Edge.
Fishlegs looked at the new armors. "Screaming Death armor? Yeah, makes sense. Thickest scales of any dragon."
"Woo! Excellent workmanship." Ruffnut said, looking at Hookfangs' armour.
"Ugh, I don't know. I'm surprised you didn't use a lockstitch. Raeda and Hicca did" Tuffnut commented to Snotlout
"I'll use it right now on your mouth." Snotlout retorted, getting defensive.
"Hey, it did the trick." Hiccup said.
"Yep, it helped us rescue you guys." Hicca agreed.
"It looks heavy. Maybe we should try a set made out of Gronckle iron, now that I have the formula." Fishlegs suggested.
"Well, we might need to do just that. I'm pretty sure we've not seen the last of the Dragon Hunters." Hiccup said, looking back at the ships, which were disappearing from sight.
"So, what's next?" Heather asked Ryker back at their damaged ships.
"We report back to Viggo." The leader said,
"And, we tell him what?" Dagur asked.
"That we're one step closer to the Dragon Eye. And we found him.