Chapter 43: Midnight Scrum
It was just a normal day exploring the nearby islands, but suddenly Hiccup and Hicca found themselves being chased by some very heavily armored men.
"Come back here!"
"Get them!"
"Where'd they go?"
"Don't let them get away!"
Hiccup and Hicca were running through the forest as fast as he could so heavily armored men began firing arrows and throwing axes at him.
"We'll get them!"
"They're on the right!"
"Behind that tree!"
The Haddock twins kept on zigzagging across the trees to avoid the men trying to attack. The one thing that they did know about these men was the fact that they were Dragon Hunters which begs the question why they were chasing him at all.
"Come on! We're getting closer!"
The Haddock twins then saw a third man jumping off a cliff with his ax held high. Hiccup quickly used the slope he was on to skid between his legs as Hicca then went to the otherside while he's distracted, but found that Hiccup wasn't able to stop himself and went down the hill screaming and grunting.
"Hiccup!" Hicca called out as she slid down to him.
Meanwhile elsewhere in the forest, Astrid and Raeda were strapping on their positions they got from the island. Toothless and Minight were each holding a bucket of apples and all they were doing now was waiting for the Haddock twins to get back.
"Toothless!" Hiccup's voice yelled in the distance.
"Midnight!" Hicca's voice yelled next.
"Oh Thor. If Hiccup and Hicca are yelling, that means that they are in trouble." Raeda commented with an eye roll.
The Haddock twins were now running down the hill as fast as their legs could carry them as the three armored men chased after them.
"Toothless!" Hiccup yelled again.
"Midnight!" Hicca yelled.
Hiccup and Hicca skidded across the ground and then heard the familiar cry of two Night Furies. Following close behind him was also Astrid and Raeda on their Nadders. Toothless and Midnight jump so that he was in between their riders and the armored men and each fired a plasma blast at them.
That's not one of the men away and caused the other two to be scattered.
"Get 'em, Stormfly!" Astrid ordered.
"Show them who's boss, Sparkfire!" Raeda ordered.
Stormfly fired several spines down at the men tripping one of them up and causing him to drop a piece of paper. Sparkfire blasted her magnesium fire, forcing them back. Knowing they were outmatched the three men started running towards the hills.
"Yeah, that's right, keep running!" Astrid yelled.
"And don't come back!" Raeda added with a smirk.
The two of them then landed on the ground next to the Haddock twins and dismounted.
"You two okay?" Astrid asked.
"Yeah, I think so." Hiccup said tiredly.
Toothless then gave him a massive lick across the face. "I'm all right, bud."Hiccup said, brushing the saliva off his face.
Midnight then gave a lick to Hicca next as she nuzzled her right. "Thanks for the save girl."
"Who were those guys?" Astrid asked as Hiccup got to his feet. "They didn't look like Dragon Hunters."
"They didn't seem to know about you having Night Furies either," said Ragnar crossing his arms.
"You know, I don't know," said Hiccup honestly. "With all the flying axes and tumbling down hills, I forgot to ask."
They then turned to Toothless and Midnight playing with a piece of parchment that one man left behind.
"Hey. What you got there, you two?" Hiccup asked as they approached him.
"Looks like a scroll." Hicca said as they got a closer look.
Toothless had managed to unroll the parchment and they instantly realized what was going on upon looking at it.
"I think we know who those guys were," Astrid said in worry.
"And why did they want you two and not Toothless or Midnight." Raeda added.
(Linebreak)
They soon returned to the Edge and showed the parchment to the others. The parchment was actually a wanted poster with Hiccup and Hicca's faces on it and a large price.
Upon seeing it Snotlout laughed uncontrollably. "No way! Viggo put a price on your heads? Oh, man! Every bounty hunter from here to the archipelago is gonna be looking for you two." He laughed.
The Haddock twins, Astrid and Raeda, merely narrow their eyes at him.
"Thank you, Snotlout, for your undying support." Hiccup said, sarcastically.
"Always nice to know you've got our backs." Hicca added, in equal sarcasm.
"No, thank you, Hiccup and Hicca." Snotlout said proudly.
"Hmm. I wonder if Viggo's paying the bounty with Berk's gold?" Fishlegs pondered.
"Well, you guys just told me that you lost all your island's gold when you tried to stop my father's dragon auction. I bet he'd love to rub the salt in that wound." Henry said, having heard from the Riders of their last mission after he and Dagur flew to the shipyard trap.
"That much irony should be illegal." Tuffnut said as he then took the poster from Snotlout. "Let me say that." He then looked over it from all sides. "Wait a minute, there's no mention of us at all."
"It's all about Hiccup and Hicca." Ruffnut frowned.
"Typical." Tuffnut scoffed. "I demand that a bounty be placed on us immediately and that the hounds be released."
"I'll put a bounty on us." said Ruffnut.
"Thanks, sister. I knew I could count on you. All right, we'll need flattering pictures for our flyers, a creepy alias, mine will be Nutte Tuff." Tuffnut said as he waved his hand at the name.
"All right, enough about the bounty." Hiccup told them. "Ours and yours. We have other things to do."
"Like say, the official anniversary of our Island." Hicca reminded them about the Berk Anniversary.
"I hate to say it, guys, but it might be a good idea to lie low for a while, until this cools off." Heather said to the Haddock twins.
"No way," said Hiccup firmly. "That's playing into Viggo's hands."
"He's just wanting us to take the coward's way out." Hicca added.
Astrid turned on them. "Wait, you both can't still be planning on going to the party?"
"It's Berk's 400 year anniversary." Hiccup reminded Astrid. "You know what our dad would do if we missed it?"
"He was already ticked off when we lost the gold and missing Berk's 400 year anniversary will definitely make our father murder us." Hicca added, ever since they lost Berk's. gold they've been avoiding going back or facing their father if he is still mad at them, but they wouldn't want to miss their home anniversary, that would be the last straw.
"And he's finally gonna near you two for losing all of Berk's gold," Snotlout laughed. "It's gonna be epic." Before he could continue laughing, Raeda gave him a double fist slam to the head, knocking him to the ground.
"Well, I doubt it would be as epic as me nailing you." Raeda said with a smirk.
Snotlout got up rubbing his head, "Shut up, Raeda." He grumbled.
"We're not kids any more, Snotlout. He's not gonna 'nail us.'" Hiccup said.
"Crack our skulls, break our ribs and give us the evil eye, sure. But I don't know about nailing." Hicca added casually.
"I don't know, guys," Fishlegs said troublingly. "A crowded, public event is the perfect place for bounty hunters to slip in undetected."
"Not to mention without Berk's hold, Stoick can't really close the gates when people want to enter to celebrate the celebration." Raeda pointed out.
"Raeda, Fishlegs, we appreciate your concerns, but no, we're not hiding from anyone," Hiccup said firmly. "We're going to the party." He declared as he placed his hand on Toothless' head as his Night Fury purred.
"And no Bounty Hunters are gonna keep us from celebrating our island's birthday, we'll take our chances." Hicca added firmly as she petted Midnight, who purred as well.
(Linebreak)
The next day at Berk, the people of Berk were setting up the decorations. Sadly it wasn't as grand as it normally would have been due to the small fact they didn't have any gold left. Despite this they were certainly going to put every effort into making it spectacular.
"Can you believe it, Stoick? Four hundred years." Gobber said breathlessly. "Makes ya proud to be a Berkian."
"Yes, it does," Stoick said with a smile, patting him on the shoulder.
Gobber cleaned his throat and pulled out a piece of parchment. "Now, what else do we need on my list?" He asked and the list reached the ground.
Stoick sighed. "I don't have to remind you, do I, that Berk's gold was lost to Viggo?" He reminded the blacksmith/dentist.
"No, Chief. I was there," Gobber recalled that he was at the auction.
They then heard the sound of dragons and turned to see the Riders had reached Berk. Stoick's eyes immediately fell onto his kids and they automatically narrowed.
"Don't be too hard on them about the gold, Chief." Gobber advised. "It wasn't all their fault. We were lucky to get off that island in one piece." He said, having experience that they were lucky to make it out of the auction while battling hunters and freeing the dragons.
Stoick then made his way over to Hiccup and Hicca, who had dismounted Toothless and Midnight and was barely able to look them in the eyes.
Stoick sighed. "How's life at the Great Beyond, kids?" He asked.
Before either Hiccup or Hicca could answer, Snotlout rushed forwards and leaned on Hiccup's shoulders. "Ha! Funny you should ask, Chief. There's actually a—" He was interrupted when Hicca covered his mouth.
Hiccup then took the chance as he spoke "Yeah, it's great, Dad. How could it not be great? It's the Great Beyond. Right, guys?" He said nervously.
The other Riders quickly nodded in agreement, knowing that he was deflecting the topic about the bounty hunters.
Hicca then looked at their father. "So, how are things here, dad? Since well, you know." She said, changing the topic to know how Berk is doing but quickly regretted it since it went hand in hand with the last topic.
"They've been better." Stoick admitted.
Hiccup knew what he was implying. "Yeah, about that. Uh, listen, Dad—"
"We can discuss it later, kids," Stoick promised as he held their shoulders. "Always remember, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
"Yeah. Got it. Loud and clear." Hiccup nodded.
"Understood, dad." Hicca added.
"Now, go enjoy yourselves. A party like this happens only once in 400 years." Stoick told them before turning to Henry. "And Henry, welcome back from Valhalla!"
Henry chuckled, "It's good to see you too, Chief." He said.
Stoick then chuckled, "By the way, love the scar. A trophy from battle." He commented while pointing to his eye before walking away.
Hiccup and Hicca sighed with great relief.
"That's it?" Snotlout stared as if he had been cheated and walked off in a huff. "What a rip-off!"
"We agree to not mention the bounty, Snotlout." Hicca lectured as Snotlout was out of sight.
"Okay, you heard the man." Tuffnut said, following Snotlout.
"The party is on!" Ruffnut said following him.
"Yeah! On and going." Tuffnut cheered.
Astrid and Raeda then approached the Haddock twins. "Aren't you both gonna tell him about the bounty?" she asked.
"No. we're not." Hiccup said and then he walked off. "He has enough to deal with right now."
"Making this celebration as good as it can be may be the only way to earn back his trust." Hicca said as they walked away.
"This is going to end badly." Raeda said.
Astrid couldn't help, but nod in agreement.
(Linebreak)
Later that night, the party was in full swing. Children were walking down the street holding flags with Vikings for many tribes cheering as they walked past.
"Let's hear it for the wee ones!" Gobbe, who was wearing blue and green face paint, announced as the spectators cheered. "We Berkians have come a long way in 400 years. For a long time, we were at war with the dragons, hunting them, killing them. But that all changed one day when some of our youngest Berkians had the guts to step up and take a stand. Ladies and Vikings, the time has come to look towards the future of Berk. I give you Hiccup, Hicca, and the Dragon Riders!"
The spectators cheered as the Dragon Riders appeared above them with the dragons lighting their flames in their mouths. The Riders were all wearing face paint that they wore during the Dragon Races, except for Heather and Henry since they aren't from Berk.
"All right, guys. Let's give 'em a show to remember." Hiccup said, looking back at them.
"Just like we practice!" Hicca added.
Astrid and Raeda then flew into position charging at one another and standing on their dragons. They then jumped at the same time and their braces slammed in each other. They then landed back on each other's dragons landing perfectly on their feet.
"Yes!" Astrid cheered.
"Oh yeah!" Raeda declared.
The spectators cheered even louder.
"Comin' in hot!" Snotlout yelled as he flew down with a flaming Hookfang and lit the bonfires that had been set up in the Plaza.
The spectators cheered once more.
The twins were flying up into the air releasing gas.
"You're making the nose too big.," Ruffnut glared at her brother.
"Everyone loves a strong, authoritative nose," said Tuffnut as he guided their dragon.
They then flew back down releasing even more gas.
"Light it up, Belch!" Tuffnut ordered.
Belch releases sparks igniting the gas and creating a massive explosion that took the form of Stoick's face. The entire crowd cheered upon seeing it.
Fishlegs and Heather then made his way towards the eyes.
"Suck it in Meatlug." Fishlegs said.
"Get ready girl!" Heather told her dragon.
Fishlegs flew through the right eye and Heather through the left eye. Heather was unscorched but the wings on Fishlegs' helmet were on fire.
"Whoo! Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, Fishlegs!" Fishlegs cheered from the total rush.
Henry and his dragons then came in as he was on Wildstar, "Alright, guys. You know what to do!" He said as the dragons flew towards the flaming face, flew around into it, turning into a ball of fire before they flew away, causing it to explode in a most spectacular fashion.
The spectators cheered even louder at the spectacle.
Then they heard the sound of Toothless and Midnight, who came flying down into the village. As they flew over the spectators, the Haddock twins looked down at them and then saw a group of Vikings talking to one another with suspicious looks he didn't recognise.
"Bounty hunters." Hiccup said to his sister.
"Let's get them." Hicca said.
They then made a quick U-turn around the bonfire Snotlout had created and landed in front of the three men.
"Who are you?" Hiccup demanded.
"Why are you here?" Hicca demanded as well.
"Please don't hurt them, you two!" Silent Sven said, rushing towards them.
"Wait, you know these guys?" Hiccup blinked.
"Sure, they're my uncles. Whispering Waldo, Mute Marvin, and Soft Spoken Sam," he said gesturing to his uncles as they gave friendly smiles.
"Hi!" said Soft Spoken Sam very quietly.
"Uh, hi." Hicca politely said.
The Haddock twins had to admit that he saw the family resemblance. "They're just ship-lagged from their long journey," Sven explained as Astrid joined them on top of Stormfly.
"Sorry, Sven," said Hiccup apologetically then looked at his uncles. "And you too Whispering Waldo, Mute Marvin, and…" He can remember the last one's name.
"Soft Spoken Sam." Hicca finished, "And welcome to Berk."
The Haddock twins then took off into the air with Astrid and Raeda, but as they did another mysterious figure was in the crowd and saw Hiccup and Hicca. In his hand he was holding the wanted poster and then he was soon joined by a second thuggish-looking person.
(Linebreak)
After the party, Astrid and Raeda wanted to have a few words with the Haddock twins in the Great Hall.
"All right, I admit it. Living with a bounty on my head is more stressful than we thought," Hiccup admitted to the two of them.
"It is already hard enough to trust visitors on Berk." Hicca added. "First Viggo gets our gold, now this. We just think we should—"
"Tell Stoick," Astrid said, placing a hand over Hiccup's shoulder. "He's the chief and he's your dad."
"It would be a good idea to get this off your chest," Raeda added.
"No, like he said, 'The needs of the many outweigh those of the few,'" Hiccup said firmly.
"The people of Berk are more important than some criminal business man sending low-level mercenaries to take us out." Hicca stated.
"That was before he realized that you both had a bounty on your heads," Raeda pointed out.
"Good night, guys. We'll see you two in the morning," Hiccup said getting up
"This whole thing will blow over after a new day." Hicca said as she and her brother walked out of the Great Hall.
"They're just too stubborn for their own good," Raeda said , shaking her head.
"Do you think we should tell Stoick?" Astrid asked.
Raeda then shook her head. "No, they should tell their Dad otherwise he'll be in even more trouble. Which is why we need to keep on convincing them to tell him."
(Linebreak)
Later that night, Astrid was sleeping in her bed in her parents' house, which had been rebuilt after Dagur's attack.
"Hiccup! Hicca!" Stoick's voice yelled.
Astrid's eyes shot up.
Outside Stoick, Toothless and Midnight were looking around the village for any sign of the Haddock Twins.
"Has anyone seen Hiccup and Hicca?!" Stoick yelled as looked in a dark street. "Hiccup! Hicca!" Astrid soon left the house and approached the chief, who noticed her. "Have you seen my kids?"
Astrid had a very bad feeling about this and shook her head.
(Linebreak)
"Hiccup!" Hicca's voice yelled as Hiccup opened his eyes.
Hiccup soon noted that he had a very large lump on its head. "Hicca? What happened?" He asked.
They also appear to be in the hull of a ship. The ship didn't look anything special, mostly filled with empty crates and barrels.
"Where are we?" Hiccup said as he took in his new surroundings.
"Just before I went to sleep someone snuck up on me and knocked me out." Hicca explained as she looked at her tied up limbs, "And then the next thing I knew once I woke up, we are tied up and are in a ship."
Hiccup then noticed that his hands and legs were bound too. It soon dawned on him that bounty hunters had somehow caught them and they were in the ship. Hiccup tried to break free from the bonds, but the knots were too tight.
"I already tried, bro. These are tight knots." Hicca called out, already having trouble trying to break free.
"There's got to be something sharp," Hiccup said looking around.
They then saw a bent nail not too far away, they nodded to each other and started to make their way towards it. It wasn't easy with both their legs and hands bound, but eventually they reached the nail. Hiccup grabbed it as he then started to use the sharp edges to cut the ropes around his hands.
"Come on. Come on. Come on," he repeated as he moved his hands up and down.
Theythen heard footsteps and saw two shadows walking above on the deck. He then moved his hands up and down faster, but stopped when they heard footsteps landing on the wooden floorboards in front of them.
They were to thuggish-looking pictures and judging from the way they looked and smelled they weren't too bright.
"They're awake!" said one of them. "Quick, Berthel, knock them out again."
Berthel then started to make his way over towards the Haddock twins in a threatening manner.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said Hiccup.
"Why not?" Berthel asked.
"Because you might accidentally kill us and Viggo wants us alive." Hicca said, making a cover story to stay alive.
"Is that true?" Berthel asked, looking at the other bounty hunter.
"Well, what does the poster say?" The bounty hunter asked.
"I lost the poster." Berthel said, looking ashamed.
"Berthel, you had one thing to do, hold the poster!" the bounty hunter yelled furiously.
Berthel held out his hands, which revealed to be hooks. "Holding things is not my strong suit. You know that." He defended.
Hicca raised a brow, "How were you able to hold onto that poster the first time?" She asked in curiosity.
"I have to use my teeth to hold the poster before I lose it." Brethel explained.
The bounty hunter then looked at Hiccup and Hicca. "Maybe we'll knock you two out later."
"You know, if I were you two, I'd release us," Hiccup advised. "Our friends will be here any minute, with their dragons. Their fire-breathing dragons."
"Their big, angry, fire-breathing dragons." Hicca added.
"They're bluffin'," said the bounty hunter.
Suddenly there were large footsteps above deck.
"What's that? Dragons?" Berthel asked nervously.
They quickly ran up the steps and Hiccup continued to cut the ropes with the nail. He finally managed to cut the ropes and then removed the rope around his ankles. He then moved over to Hicca and freed her.
They then heard the sound of struggles above deck and assumed that it was the other Riders and then he heard the two bounty hunters being thrown off deck.
"We're down here!" Hiccup yelled running to the steps.
"We're here, guys!" Hicca yelled next.
Unfortunately their rescuer was not the Riders, it was their old enemy Savage, and he was smiling menacingly. "Yes. I know you both are," He said with a smirk.
"Savage," Hiccup starred.
"Uh, hey there, Savage. How are you?" Hicca asked sheepishly, while also shocked to see Savage again since they haven't seen him after Dagur left him and the Berserkers for the Dragon Hunters.
"Oh, just swell, my dear." Savage said with a smirk as he made his way down the steps laughing and then swung his axe at the Haddock twins.
Hiccup rolled out of the way while Hicca dodge it as Savage went for Hiccup as he then grabbed the rope. He then held it out in time to block the handle on Savage's axe as he brought it down. He then used his strength to get up and use the rope to tie up the axe and disarm Savage, he then used it to trip him up and tossed him onto the floor.
"Come on, sis!" Hiccup called out as Hicca nodded.
They then climbed his way back on deck, but found himself completely surrounded by ocean water.
"Oh, Thor!" Hiccup groaned.
"We're already way off shore to even escape." Hicca said, seeing that they are trapped.
Savage then tackled Hiccup while their backs were turned and pinned Hiccup to the floor.
"Slippery ones, aren't you?" Savage asked with a smirk as he put Hiccup into an arm hold as he aimed his axe to Hiccup's neck as he gave a smirk to Hicca. "One move and your brother is on his way to Valhalla." He threatened as Hicca raised her hands in surrender.
"Wait, Savage, you don't want to do this." Hiccup said as he struggled to free himself.
"We can talk this out." Hicca tried to reason as well.
Savage then tied Hiccup up and tossed him onto his ship. "For once in my life, I know exactly what I want to do," He said and then jumped on board. "Now get on board or your brother gets it!" He warned.
Hicca groaned and came aboard, but not before stomping on Savage's foot as he yelled in pain. He raised his ax to strike, "Ah-ah-ah. If Viggo finds out you robbed him of his right to kill us, he'll have to settle for you." Hicca warned with a smirk.
Savage growled and lowered his ax, "Always the clever ones, aren't ya?" He said before he guided the ship away from the bounty hunters'. The bounty hunters were still in the water and Savage smirked at them as he sailed past.
"Thanks for getting him off Berk, muttonheads," he said.
"Hold me, Amos," Berthel begged as he couldn't swim due to his disability.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile at this time, Stoick, who was riding Toothless since he can't fly on his own, was leading the Dragon Hunters on the hunt for the bounty hunters ship while Midnight flew close to her mate, since she doesn't have a rider. Astrid informed Stoick of the bounty that had been placed on Hiccup and Hicca's head and he wasn't too pleased and why his kids hadn't informed him of this.
"Since Viggo's island is due north, the bounty hunters should be heading in this direction." Fishlegs said.
Toothless and Midnight both growled, clearly worried about Hiccup and Hicca. 'If I find those goons who took Hiccup and Hicca under my nose.' Toothless growled.
'Make sure you save some for me.' Midnight growled as well.
"We'll find them, you two. Don't you worry," Stoick assured, patting Toothless on the head.
"The Deep Sea Channel is calm this time of year and cuts right through Viggo's island," Heather informed them.
"If anyone's captured Hiccup and Hicca and brings them there, they'll head down that channel." Henry added.
"Then we'll follow the channel and hope he's on it." Astrid said.
"Let's just hope we get there in time before they reach the island." Raeda said in concern.
"Why wouldn't they tell me about the bounty?" Stoick asked, shaking his head in disbelief. "It's because of what I said, isn't it?"
"He's Hiccup and Hicca, sometimes their prides' bigger than their brains," said Astrid.
"It also doesn't help that they're as stubborn as Rumblehorn in midcharge," Henry added.
"In the interest of full disclosure, Chief. Ruff and I have a price on our heads as well," Tuffnut said, holding out a wanted poster which was clearly home-made.
"We've even dropped these all over the archipelago." Ruffnut said, tossing more copies of the poster into the wind.
"Ha!" Snotlout laughed. Then suddenly one of the posters slammed into his face. "Hey! Hey!" Hookfang did the dragon equivalent of a laugh as Snotlout removed the poster and glared up at the twins. "And after we get Hiccup and Hicca back I'm going to collect your bounty."
"There it is." Stoick called out, noticing the bounty hunters' ship in the distance. "We got 'em now." Stoick landed on the ship and looked at the other Riders. "Search the rest of the ship. Leave no stone unturned."
The Riders dismounted their dragons and landed on the ship and began searching the place from top to bottom. Sadly they found no trace of Hiccup for the bounty hunters.
Stoick groaned and looked at the worried Toothless and Midnight. 'They aren't here.' Midnight warbled.
"It's all right." Stoick assured the two Night Furies as he gave them a rub.
They then heard sounds on the side of the ship and made their way towards the side and saw two men climbing onto the ship. Stoick naturally assumes that these were the bounty hunters that took his son.
"Push me up, Berthel!" Amos ordered.
"How can I push you when I'm pullin' me?" Berthel asked.
Amos then kicked him across the face and eventually the bounty hunters manager climbed themselves onto this ship.
"Finally, we made it." Amos sighed with relief.
Then they looked up and saw Stoick towering above them with his ax at the ready. "Where are Hiccup and Hicca?" He demanded.
Toothless and Midnight then approached them and growled angrily.
'You better start talking now!' Toothless growled.
'Or you'll know what a plasma blast!' Midnight threatened.
"We don't have them anymore." Amos said fearfully.
Stoick grabbed the two of them by their throats and lifted them off their feet. Astrid, Raeda, Henry and Heather soon emerged from the ship's hold.
"We search below deck. They're not here," Astrid said.
"But it looked as if there was some sort of struggle," Henry added.
"See, we told you." Berthel said, ghastly for breath. "Savage took him."
"Savage?" Raeda asked in surprise. "We haven't seen him since the Hunters' first attack on the Edge." She added.
Stoick then released the two of them and they quickly rubbed their throats. The Thorston twins then approached the two of them.
"I see you found some of our posters," Tuffnut said, holding out one of their home-made posters.
"But why are they on a roll in the outhouse?" Ruffnut asked, glaring at them.
"The soft, two-ply parchment is soothing." Berthel explained as he scratched his rear.
"You picked up on that." Tuffnut said, lowering the poster. "Very observant."
"And absorbent." Ruffnut added. She then looked to her brother. "See what I did there?"
"Yes. Let's sit down and negotiate a deal for the surrender of one Ruffnut and one Tuffnut Thorston." Tuffnut said.
Stoick then walked past and approached the two bounty hunters and instantly they whimpered. He then grabbed them and tossed overboard.
"We'll have our people Terror Mail your people." said Ruffnut leaning over the side of the ship.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, Savage was tying up Hiccup and Hicca as he tied them against the mast.
"That'll hold you both." Savage smirked.
Hicca decided to do some small talk, "So Savage, haven't heard from you since Ryker's attack on Dragon's Edge." She said before giving a grin, "Found someone else's boots to kiss?"
"Quiet!" Savage said with a glare. "I haven't kissed someone else's boot since you last saw me. After I left the hunters and abandoned Dagur, I went out on my own, finally doing my own thing and making a living that is more of my liking. Like this bounty job that was placed on both your heads." He explained with a smirk.
"Savage, think about what you're doing." Hiccup tried to reason again. "We're the only ones standing between Viggo and his rule. Once you hand us over—"
Savage then threatened them with his ax. "Quiet! I've been disrespected my whole life, but now, I'll be a Viking of legend." He declared.
"Viggo will never respect you." Hiccup told him. "He's playing you for a fool."
"At least I'll be a rich fool," Savage smirked.
"Yeah, you'll be so rich a fool, everyone will laugh at the mere thought of you." Hicca mocked as Savage growled as he walked to check his sailing to make sure they were going the right way.
"If gold is what you want, Berk has more gold then you can imagine." Hiccup lied. "Stoick will pay you double what Viggo is offering."
Savage turned around as he laughed. "Nice try, Hiccup. Berk has no gold. Everyone knows that." He laughed.
Hicca then looked at her brother. "Hiccup, it's been so much time has passed since the Dragon Auction, I think either Viggo or some other Vikings that were in the auction might have spread the word that Berk has no gold." She pointed out, since the auction, every Viking in the archipelago might have heard about Berk having no gold.
"Oh Thor. Should've thought of that." Hiccup muttered, completely forgotten about that.
"Yes you should've." Savage said as he then came to them as he leaned towards the Haddock twins. "Who's the fool now?"
Savage then turned his back on him and Hiccup used this as an opportunity to kick in the heel. Savage then fell face first onto the floor. Hiccup then ran to the side of the ship, but before the boy could jump, Savage grabbed him and pulled him back and tossed him back onto the ship.
"Really bro?" Hicca asked with a raised eyebrow. "You are not much of a swimmer, remember?" She reminded her brother while gesturing to his prosthetic leg.
"Doesn't mean I haven't tried." Hiccup said in defense.
"And really, gonna swim home with your hands tied?" Savage asked as he walked towards Hiccup and then removed his leg. "Now, you can't run either." He then laughed and suddenly he collapsed.
The Haddock twins then, to their bewilderment, saw Throk standing there with a blowgun in his hand. Clearly he was just by the dart at Savage knocking him out cold for a while. He chuckled softly as he approached the Haddock twins and for a terrible thought Hiccup and Hicca thought he was chronicling the bounty.
"Throk!" The Haddock twins starred in surprise..
"I've been looking all over for you two." Throk said as he drew a dagger.
"No, wait," Hiccup yelled.
"Oh come on Throk, Henry's not gonna like this." Hicca called out.
The Haddock Twins then close their eyes as Throk raises the dagger preparing for the end. Instead however they felt the ropes around their waists falling out and saw that Throk had cut the ropes. Hiccup and Hicca sighed with relief as they got up.
"Actually he'll be quite pleased, considering he was the one who informed Queen Mala about the bounty, she sent me to rescue you two." Throk explained. Hiccup grabbed his leg and tied it back onto his stumps. "This way. Come on."
They were making their way back towards the ship.
"We gotta get to the Edge. There are bounty hunters everywhere." Hiccup said.
"And everytime one hunter captures us, another shows up and takes us from that bounty hunter and only hold onto us before the next hunter shows up, which is lot more exhausting than it sounds." Hicca added.
"Not to worry, Hiccup and Hicca Haddocks. You're both safe now." Throk assured.
Then suddenly a cloaked figure appeared out of nowhere and drew his ax. Throk barely had time to block with his own ax and skidded across the ship's hull.
"Is anyone not after us?!" Hiccup yelled.
"Seriously, we can't catch a break!?" Hicca yelled back.
Throk and the cloaked figure then started to trade blows. Throk managed to lower the figure's weapon long enough to punch him across the face and was about to deal the final blow, but the cloaked figure blocked it gracefully. The two of them continued trading blows until the cloaked figure backed himself into the mast.
The cloaked figure then raised his ax up causing Throk to jump backwards and swung it at his feet. Throk jumped in time, but the cloaked figure managed to get behind him and elbow him in the head. Throk quickly turned around and the trading blows with one another yet again.
Throk was back towards the side of the ship and the cloaked figure almost liked his head and leaned back far enough. Throk then started pushing the cloaked figure back towards the opposite side of the ship, but after trading another blow with him he was disarmed.
The cloaked figure then went back towards the mast and swung his ax. Throk diet and managed to get behind him and tackled him into the mast. He then swung his fist at his opponent's face, but the cloaked figure backed away in time but was unable to block Throk's kick and he slammed into the mast knocking him out cold.
"Now, you're both safe." Throk said, turning back to the Haddock twins.
Then suddenly he went limp and collapsed. It turned out the cloaked figure was only playing dead, but had grabbed Throk blowgun and struck in with one of his own darts knocking him out cold. He then fired two darts at both Hiccup and Hicca and then everything went black.
(Linebreak)
An hour later, Stoick in the Dragon Riders arrived at Savage's ship to find both Savage and Throk unconscious. Once the two were awake, Throk explained what happened but Stoick was busy with Savage.
"Where is he taking my children?" Stoick demanded, threatening Savage with his ax and Toothless and Midnight bared their teeth.
"I don't know where they are," Savage panicked. "One minute I was holding Hiccup's leg, and the next, I woke up and he and Hicca were gone. I swear it." He honestly told them.
"A masked Viking surprised me," Throk said as Henry and Snotlout helped him up. "He must have Hiccup and Hicca Haddock."
"You let some random guy beat you?" Snotlout retorted.
Throk narrowed his eyes. "He was very skilled." he defended.
"Considering he managed to one up you of all people, I believe that." Henry said, knowing if someone was able to take out Throk, they had to have some pretty incredible skills.
"We shouldn't be surprised," Raeda commented. "Viggo has played quite a big bounty on his head."
"Where is he taking Hiccup and Hicca?" Stoick demanded looking down at Savage.
Stoick then raised his ax and everyone gasped in horror feeling he was about to kill Savage.
"Wait! Wait! Sleipnir Island." Savage admitted. quickly. "Ryker is waiting there with the gold. I don't know what they're gonna do to Hiccup and Hicca."
Reluctantly, Stoick, Midnight and Toothless backed away from Savage.
"It is their own fault they got grabbed, not mine." Savage commented.
Stoick then turned back to face him and raised his ax, this time really going to kill him. Fortunately for Savage, Toothless and Midnight placed themselves between them and Stoick and gave him a look. 'Stoick no!' Midnight said.
'This isn't what Hiccup or Hicca would've wanted you to do.' Toothless added. It took a few seconds, but eventually Stoick lowered his ax and turned his back on Savage.
Toothless and Midnight ran towards him giving him the same look and he sighed. "You're both right." Stoick said to the two Night Furies.
The twins then showed Savage one of their posters.
"I'm sure you've heard about the Thorston bounty," said Tuffnut. "We're accepting offers, but you can expect a bidding war."
"Uh-huh." Ruffnut nodded.
"Riders, mount up!" Stoick ordered.
They soon mounted their dragons and took off towards Sleipnir Island. Throk watched as they flew off into the distance.
"Thor be with you, Dragon Riders," Throk said to them as he raised his arm to them.
(Linebreak)
The cloaked figure had finally reached Sleipnir Island with Hiccup and Hicca in tow. They had sailed from Savages ship on a small dinghy. "Say, have we met before? I feel like we have." Hicca commented at the cloaked man, "Then again, I've met a lot of shady people." SHe added, but the capture didn't say a word as he ignored her. "Or play the silent game, okay." She commented.
As they made their way through the forest, the Haddock twins looked around for a possible escape route and saw one. Immediately they broke free of their capture's grip and made a run for it. They didn't get very far, because their capture then wrapped the chain around their necks and dragged them towards him.
"Don't do that again," he advised looking down on the Haddock Twins.
"Noted." Hicca groaned.
They soon found themselves in the clearing and standing there was Ryker holding a large bag in his hand. He turned around when he heard the sound of bushes rustling and saw the Haddock twins and his captor making their way towards him. He then forced Hiccup and Hicca to move in front of him so that Ryker could see him.
Ryker laughed. "Finally. Hiccup and Hicca Haddock. No dragons to save you two, no friends to save you two. All alone."
"Ryker. Figures Viggo only sends his Big brother to do his dirty work." Hicca mocked with a smirk.
"Must suck being the oldest and getting bossed around by your younger." Hiccup mocked with a smirk as well as Ryker growled at them.
"You're going to regret saying that when I'm through with you two." Ryker threatened as he was about to grab Hiccup, but Hiccup and Hicca's captor then pulled them back and looked at Ryker.
"The gold." The captor said, marching up to Ryker.
"Your eyes look familiar, masked man." Ryker frowned. "Do I know you?" He asked
The masked man raised his hand. "The gold." He repeated.
"You did good," Ryker said with a smile, holding the bag out. The masked man was about to grab it, but Ryker released it and it was revealed to be full of rocks. "But there'll be no gold for this healer and the one-legged fool." He added as he began to laugh.
"Then there will be no prize," The masked man shot back as he held out his hand.
Ryker then drew his blade. "Hunters!"
Then suddenly appearing out of the bushes were Dragon Hunters and they started charging towards the masked man and the Haddock Twins. The masked man then ran towards where the Dragon Hunters were weakest with Hiccup and Hicca in tow.
He drew his ax and disarmed the first of the Hunters and then knocked him aside with the handle of the ax. He then jumped another Hunter, who raised his shield, and pushed him backwards and turned around in time to see a second Hunter charging towards him. He simply knocked him aside with the back of his ax and then blocked the attack from the Hunter he was previously fighting in a split second, but the Hunter disarmed him.
He glared at the Hunter and then punched him across the face knocking him out cold and then punched the second Hunter. He then jumped into the air and ground his ax, which was still spinning in the air somersaulted and landed on the ground perfectly.
Three Hunters then surrounded him with arrows and soon he engaged them. At this point Hiccup and Hicca chose this opportunity to free themselves from the bounds around their wrists and made a run for the woods.
Ryker laughed and looked at the two Hunters next. "Come with me."
They then began to chase after Hiccup and Hicca.
The Haddock twins had managed to remove the bounds around their wrists and the chain and were now running through the forest as quickly as they could.
"That captor really got some skills if he can handle his own against the hunters." Hicca commented as they ran.
"Yeah, let's not stick around and compliment him." Hiccup suggested as they kept running. "There's got to be something on this island," He said. "A dragon. Anything."
The Haddock twins then ran into a field which was completely dominated by sheep.
"That's not exactly what I had in mind," Hiccup said in a bored tone.
"I guess Ryker picked the right island if there's no dragons and so many sheep." Hicca said before she got an idea, "But maybe we can make this work." She smiled.
Ryker and his Hunters followed the Haddock twins trail through the forest.
"Hurry up! They can't get far!" Ryker told his men.
They soon reached the clearing and then came to an abrupt stop, because a stampede of sheep were heading straight towards them. They quickly run in the opposite direction screaming as Hiccup and Hicca use their flaming red and blue Infernos to scare the sheep.
"Sheep," Hiccup said with a chuckle and a smile.
"Be glad I was working on these before we left." Hicca said, gesturing with her and Hiccup's Infernos and was about to make their getaway, but then they were tackled by the masked man.
They tumbled and before Hiccup or Hicca could strike with their swords the man disarmed them with his ax and then pinned Hiccup to the ground.
"I'll take you and your sister to Viggo myself." The masked man glared.
Hiccup began to struggle trying to push him off before Hicca jumped on him and removed his mask. Hicca then recognised him immediately as the man that tried to buy Toothless and Midnight in Viggo's dragon auction.
"Wait. we know you." Hicca said as she stared in shock. "You're Krogan. You were at Viggo's auction."
Hiccup then kicked him off him and tried to make a run for it, but the man grabbed him and they tumbled off the cliff.
"Hiccup!" Hicca called out as she ran towards the cliff as she grab her brother as she is holding on to the edge with her legs as she hold onto her brother
Hicca was finding it very difficult to hold on due to their combined weight and then saw Krogan slip and grab hold of Hiccup's leg.
"Pull me up." Krogan said.
"You're kidding right?" Hicca asked as she struggled to pull them up, but their weight was far too heavy for him and he felt her grip slipping. "You're both too heavy to even pull up anyway." She grunted as she tried to pull them up.
Hiccup then had an idea as he then reached down to the rope that was connecting his leg to his stump.
"What are you doing?" Krogan yelled in shock.
Hiccup untired the rope and began to knock his foot off with his good leg.
"No! No!" Krogan yelled and the leg fell from the stump.
Krogan then fell down the cliff towards the large lake at the bottom. Hiccup sighed, as he took no pride in killing someone since that isn't really what he wanted.
"There was no other choice." Hicca reminded him as she was about to pull her brother up.
Unfortunately, The Haddock twins might be joining him as Hicca was losing her grip from her legs, but when she did felt someone grab her legs. The Haddock twins looked up and groaned, because their savior was Ryker. "Oh, hi Ryker." Hicca said nervously.
"Oh, I'd love to drop you two, but Viggo wants to kill you both himself." Ryker said and then tossed them back onto the cliff.
"That's very considerate," Hiccup said.
"So nice of him to think highly about us." Hicca sarcastically said.
They then saw that he was completely surrounded by Dragon Hunters, weaponless and legless. Ryker pulled them up and forced them to move which was difficult with only one leg. Then suddenly out of nowhere two plasma blasts fired knocking two of the Hunters backwards.
They turned and saw Stoick leading the Dragon Riders towards them with his ax held high.
"Got after Hiccup and Hicca." Astrid told Stoick. "We'll clear the hunters."
"I'll back you up!" Henry said as he flipped from Wildstar onto Midnight.
They then flew down towards the Haddock twins and the Hunters.
Ryker then punched Hiccup and Hicca hard in the gut, knocking them out cold. He then placed them on his shoulders and began to make a run for it. The Hunters covered his retreat with their Dragon Root arrows.
Astrid managed to dodge them and Raeda managed to shoot her own arrows at the Hunters, pushing them back as the two of them flew down towards them. The two of them then unleashed a stream of fire down upon the Hunters causing them to jump out of the way.
"Blast em' Hookfang. Yeah!" Snotlout yelled as they created a wall of fire.
Fishlegs then fired several lava blasts and Heather flew down towards the Hunters, who fired more arrows at them. She managed to dodge them and fly in low using Windshear's sharp tail to cut through the trunks of several trees which landed on top of the Hunters.
Stoick and Henry meanwhile were still chasing Ryker, who was still trying to escape. Toothless and Midnight then fired plasma blasts right at Ryker's feet knocking him to the ground. Ryker managed to remain on his feet, but he dropped the Haddock twins and turned just as Wildstar, Toothless and Midnight landed.
Stoick and Henry immediately dismounted and then Stoick pointed his ax while Henry pointed his sword at Ryker. "You two get him, Toothless and Midnight" He ordered.
"Show my Uncle what happens when he messes with your riders." Henry added.
Toothless and Midnight then charged at Ryker, but Ryker grabbed Hiccup, who had regained consciousness, and he drew his blade. Toothless fired a plasma blast first, which knocked the blade out of Ryker's hand and Hiccup chose this opportunity to hop away. The two Night Furies then fired even more plasma blasts at Ryker, blasting his armor off and causing him to fall.
Toothless and Midnight then landed in front of him preparing to fire their final plasma blasts.
"No, don't!" Ryker whimpered.
"It's all right, Toothless and Midnight, we got him," Stoick said, placing a hand on Toothless' head.
Toothless and Midnight stood down reluctantly, but didn't stop them from growling at Ryker angrily. The two Night Furies then the Haddock twins' moans and then rushed towards them, rubbing their snout against their riders affectionately.
"Good to see you, too, bud." Hiccup said.
"Glad to see you, girl." Hicca said.
Ryker got to his feet and rubbed his wounds and then saw Henry marching up towards him. He then grabbed him by the straps of his sword guards and lifted him up with a murderous look on his face.
"I want you to deliver a message to father for me, Uncle." Henry growled lowly. "You try sicking lowlife mercenaries on any of my friends again, this is what you get!" He then punched him across the face knocking him out cold. "Well, that felt good. Been waiting for that for a while." He said in a gratifying tone as he dusted off his hand.
"You've earned it, lad." Stoick said with a smile as he placed a hand on Henry's shoulder.
Henry and Stoick then made their way over towards the Haddock twins and soon the other Riders joined them.
"Hiccup, your leg." Astrid said, noticing his prosthetic was gone. "Are you and Hicca okay?" She asked
"We're okay." Hicca assured. "Hiccup just has to give up his leg to escape Krogan." She told them.
"Krogan?" Henry asked.
"Long story. Let's just go home." Hiccup said.
Astrid and Hicca then helped Hiccup up and they began to make their leave.
Unfortunately, Ryker regained consciousness at that point. He drew his dagger from his belt secretly and was about to throw it when something hit him on the head knocking him out cold. Everyone quickly turned and saw that someone had thrown Hiccup's leg at him.
Then they saw Krogan standing on the cliff's edge. "You again?" Raeda said in shock.
Henry then noticed the symbol on Krogan's cloak, and his eyes widened, "You, you're from the north." He gasped.
Krogan smirked, "So nice to know that you heard about me." He said.
"But, you told us your master wanted dragons." Raeda pointed out, "Why would you want the gold?"
Krogan merely chuckled, "The gold was never what I was after, I merely used the bounty as a ruse to gain something even more valuable, knowledge." He explained.
The Riders are confused by this. "Knowledge about what?" Hicca asked.
Krogan then just smirked. "You'll find out in due time." He said with a chuckle as he then somersaulted over the cliff. They quickly rushed towards the edge of the cliff, but saw no signs of him.
"Okay, if Krogan was like that as a bounty hunter, I'm rescinding my bounty, effectively immediately." Tuffnut said, tearing up the posters he and his sister made.
(Linebreak)
Soon they were all on their dragons flying back to Berk. Stoick was riding with his children and the three of them were having an awkward moment.
"You know, I don't think we've ever seen you that mad, and that's saying something." Hiccup said.
"Yeah dad. This is the first time we've seen you that mad." Hicca added in surprise
"Nobody messes with a Haddock without paying the price." Stoick said. "Now, about Berk's gold, that was my fault too, kids. We both learned a lesson. But, Hiccup, Hicca—"
"We know what you're gonna say," said Hiccup. "And you're right. We should've told you about the bounty. After all, We're your kids."
"Yeah dad. It was our fault for not telling you about the bounty to you in the first place." Hicca said. "We just didn't want to give you more problems than you already have." She added.
"Yes, but it's more than that. We're allies, peers. The people of Berk depend on us to keep them safe. And if we're gonna do that, we can have no secrets between us." Stoick said as the Haddock twins looked at him. "But that's a conversation for another day. I'm just glad to have you two back." Toothless and Midnight growled, pointedly. "We all are."
They then flew into the sunset heading back home but then Hicca frowned as a thought came to her.
Hiccup noticed this and turned to his sister, "Still thinking about what Krogan said, sis?" He asked.
"Pretty much, he said he was after knowledge Hiccup and, I think I have an idea what that knowledge was." Hicca told him.
Hiccup then realized what she was saying, "Wait, you're saying Krogan was trying to get knowledge about us?" He asked as Hicca nodded.
"He was testing us!" Astrid gasped.
"Wait, testing? Nobody said we were getting tested." Tuffnut said.
"Did we pass?" Ruffnut added.
Raeda facepalmed herself, "Oh gods." She moans.
"He's cunning, I'll give him that." Fishlegs commented.
"Well, with what he learned, he'll know not to mess with us." Snotlout assured with a smirk.
Hicca however, didn't look as confident, "I'm not so sure. If he was just testing us, then that means he wasn't showing us all of his moves yet. And if he's working for someone else, there may be others involved in this." She said in a little grim tone.
"So what are you saying?" Heather asked.
"I'm saying, I don't think we've seen the last of Krogan." Hicca said grimly, knowing that Krogan would return if he was learning about them as the Riders gave worried expressions.
(Linebreak)
Back on the island Krogan was wandering through the woods at night, constantly keeping his guard up. When he rounded a corner he soon found his way blocked by a Singetail. And not just any Stingetail, but a blood red, massive, extremely unfriendly looking, Titan-Wing Singetail.
The Singetail roared at Krogan, blowing his cape back. Krogan shielded his face with his hand and when he removed it, instead of fear, Krogan had a dark smile on his face. He then held his hands out, as if daring the dragon to come at him. The Singetail took that dare and charged at him.
Then at the last second, Krogan whirled out the way of the Singetail, pinched its neck causing it to let a roar of surprise, fall to the ground, weakened.
Krogan made his way to the down Singetail as he placed his hand on its head, examining him. "Such strength and ferocity, perfect for my plan for those Dragon Riders." He said as he gave an evil smirk as the Singetail gave a growl, "Oh don't worry my friend, I have big plans for you." He assured the down Titan-Wing Singetail as he got some ideas for it.