1 year later…
Hiccup hates fighting. Hates fighting over pointless things. Not that the Dragon Eye is pointless per say, but why does battle have to be so full of anger?
He guessed that sure without anger battle might not have existed in the first place but it wasn't his fault that Ryker left this totally important relic on a random ship!
Not the point. The thing is, apparently Ryker is so angry and desperate for the Dragon Eye he hired a mercenary to do the job for him, why else would there be a white armored figure decked out in scales in the cave with the Snow Wraiths? Conveniently the one place they needed to be?
"What do we do?"
Right, figure this out first, he reminded himself. Analyze the situation. White mercenary guy was currently facing them with his weapon out, not aggressively, just to his side, ready.
The Snow Wraiths snarled. Hiccup was too tired for this.
"Maybe we can put one of them back to sleep and it'll distract the others," he said, running forward to grab a stray arrow that had found its mark in Tuffnut's helmet.
He slid on his knees pulling back on the string attached to his shield like a crossbow. Technically it was a crossbow, he'd taken great pride in the idea when he thought of it.
The figure spun his staff in a swift arch, stopping the arrow and sending it back. Toothless was forced to save him, from his own arrow.
Just who is this guy?
Any other time Hiccup would go for the talking it out option, but the 'talk' he had with Ryker, tired out his wit.
"Okay, so that didn't work," he commented as one if the Snow Wraiths picked up the mysterious figure and–
"Burrowing! That's new," he said. He could feel each one of the dragons underneath them creating a maze of tunnels.
"I know, and I don't think I like it," Fishlegs was practically vibrating next to Meatlug, who wasn't much better.
"Oh, I know I don't like it," Snotlout said, watching the ground in fear as he sat on a stressed Hookfang.
They could pop up anywhere and ambush them, but there were more of the Riders than there were of the mercenary and his Snow Wraiths, therefore they'll probably try to pick them off one by one.
"Quick! Defensive formation! Everybody take an angle, fire as soon as you see them," he called, immediately everyone was on a dragon and had formed in a tight circle. The rumbling continued.
"Feels like they're going left. No, right. Left. Which one's which?" Snotlout shouted, trying to be helpful. It wasn't. "Forget that, just cover your zone!" He shouted at him.
Two Snow Wraiths popped up from the ground, two of his team fired, both missed. On the bright side both Snow Wraiths were scared back into their burrows.
A rumbling caught his attention, one that was right below him and Toothless, "Just stun 'em, bud," he whispered, he didn't want to accidentally kill someone.
The final Snow Wraith shot up and out of the tunnel right into Toothless's firing zone. There should've been no possible way for them to miss and yet…
Toothless shot. Hiccup watched, and the mercenary…
Dodged it.
He dodged it.
He–
"Anybody feel anything?"
They had left. If Ryker got his hands on that tooth…
"Just a profound sense of relief," Tuffnut commented, Hiccup was still thinking.
"And perhaps a tinge of sadness?" Ruffnut added, "Oh, exactly sister," Tuffnut agreed as they both turned to look at Hiccup. He did a double take. What?
"I think they're gone," Fishlegs said, thank you.
"Maybe they tunneled all the way out. If they did…"
"That could be our way out too," Astrid finished for him. Time to find those Snow Wraiths.
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Of course this was how Jack's afternoon was going. Fan-fucking-tastic. A year into the Archipelago and he's already speeding through ice tunnels on frantic animals. North would be proud.
What he wouldn't be proud of was how hard Jack slammed into the- and I kid you not -barf-green cage. He cursed as pain bloomed from his head. This is fine, he thought to himself, It's not like it's day time as well! if he could speak his sarcasm out loud he would've but none other than Ryker himself was stumbling through the snow towards them.
He had to walk beside Jack in order to keep pace with the cage. He assumed they were heading towards the ships. Artemis could burn it by then he just needed to be patient and wait this out. He must've blacked out from the hit at some point because they were already halfway there.
"You know I was wondering when you'd show your masked face around here," Ryker smirked, Jack wanted to punch that smirk right off his face.
Steep-Glacier snarled behind him. Ryker hit the cage aggressively, making the young dragon shrink back in fear. Jack glared at Ryker. "When we get to those ships I'm ripping that mask right off your face," he threatened.
"Go suck a cow!" He growled. Steep-Glacier roared behind him.
Apparently the glacier above them hated Ryker as much as he did because in the next moment the ground shook with the roar of the ice falling.
"It's the damn sorcerer and his ice powers!" He heard someone shout just in time for chaos to commence.
Steep-Glacier graciously covered Jack with his wing as a particularly large block of ice dented the roof of the cage. He lost sight of Ryker amidst the chaos.
What he did catch sight of was the green of a familiar Zippelback flying away from the glacier above them. Oh right, and Jack was caught in a feud between two rival Dragon Hunter groups. Amazing.
Then he was going up. Astrid- he remembered from her and Heather's little talk earlier -and her Deadly Nadder were flying away with the cage. Unluckily for all of them the huge chunk of ice was still lodged into the roof, splitting the bars wider as they flew upwards.
Jack was forced to press himself against the floor bars which were now a killable height from the ground as the ice block broke the roof more and more, creaking under the weight.
Then, for some ungodly reason, Astrid left. She just left him to be held by a rider on a Gronkle which, while strong, can't possibly hold the weight of a both Jack and a Snow Wraith.
It's okay, just go with it, this is fine, you're fine, he tried to tell himself. Much easier said than done when you're hanging in a cage thousands of feet in the air.
Luckily for him- yet unluckily for his soul -the loss of weight to one side of the cage caused the entire thing to swing sideways on its axis. Jack watched as the ice fell and broke as it hit the ground with an audible crack.
"How did you do that?" Jack asked, as he watched Artemis of all dragons roll around on the ground like a puppy waiting for belly rubs.
Valka just chuckled slightly, "there is an ancient language used to communicate with dragons. Most believe it is entirely made up, others not so much. Over time the words have been lost. But not the hand gestures…" she trailed off mysteriously.
"Oh come on! Val don't leave me hanging!" He complained, and for the thousandth time that year he wondered just how much she could teach him.
Jack lifted his hand, keeping eye contact, and rolled it to the left.
The Gronckle followed his hand and they fell. Okay, maybe that wasn't the best decision! He panicked as he maneuvered to the large gap in the newly bent bars, trying his best not to injure himself too much. This was definitely going to leave bruises tomorrow.
Shouting came from above him as he fell, something like, "catch him!" Or something. But Jack wasn't listening to them, in fact he was listening to a familiar high pitched whistle.
He pushed away from the cage bars, launching himself downwards. He reached out as Artemis bled into the sky, grabbing onto the saddle like a lifeline. He pulled himself up right, straining to fight the air resistance of his fall and spun out the momentum.
They flung upwards to catch the cage before it hit the ground. Jack chased his breath, "that worked better than I thought it would," he said, earning a threatening growl from Atri, "Yeah, yeah, sorry, just keep the cage away from them," he commanded as they spun away from a Monstrous Nightmare.
Jack turned to his saddle bag and grabbed out three keys, "I'll free the rest," he said, and promptly dropped down to stand on the bars of the cage Artemis was holding, quickly inserting the key and pulling the door open.
One of the dragons fired and both Jack and Steep-Glacier fell. He wasn't worried though, Steep-Glacier caught him and sped towards the other cages. Seriously, why do these people need to be so loud, I can hear them over the wind, he thought as he opened another cage.
They worked like a team, Jack opened the cage and Steep Glacier attacked the Zippelback riders. Honestly, who was Jack to stop his revenge?
Both Steep Glacier and another Snow Wraith caught the last cage as it fell, Artemis catching Jack as he jumped from the open cage.
He flew by and unlocked it. "That's one for the Sanctuary," he said to no one in particular, Artemis made an indignant sound, "Oh shut up you! I'll get you your favorite fish when we get back," he promised, "let's go," he said as they sped away towards the sea.
Then a blast shot past them, making them turn. "Night Fury…" he breathed, but surprisingly- or unsurprisingly -the stranger was looking more shocked at Artemis than the fact he had a Night Fury. Probably the last one alive too.
The last Night Fury and it was being enslaved by Dragon Hunters; he'd have to tell Valka about this. Right after he makes a show of himself of course, I mean, come on, this guy's staring at him like he just saw Jesus. Way to tempt someone.
They nose dived towards the sea below them, the Night Fury and his rider not far behind. It looked like they were going to hit the water but just before they could, Atremis shot her signature blast and they disappeared without even making a ripple.
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"Astrid! Look out!" He shouted as he almost hit her. He pulled Toothless up just in time, causing him to miss. What was it and the failed attempts to blast someone today?
Then he registered what she just said, "Heather's with us!" he looked at her, wide eyed.
"What did you just say?" He needed clarification because that wasn't right. She'd betrayed us. But before he could ask any more questions more came up. "Also we have a situation with the Snow Wraith cages," she said quickly.
He looked at her for a moment, "You, me, when we get back, I want a full explanation," he told her, then sped off towards the shore.
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There were too many thoughts blowing through him to really form a coherent one, but if he had to guess I'd be something along the lines of, what in the helheim? or maybe, oh my gods, one thing for sure, this person was almost as insane- if not more -as Hiccup. Which was saying something.
He watched in frozen awe and horror as the mercenary from earlier fell- still inside the cage -then pushed his way out like he wasn't spinning midair. As far as Hiccup could tell there was nothing but unforgiving ice to catch him. Then he heard a familiar whistle. But Toothless–
A white Night Fury caught him out of the sky, Hiccup's brain just broke, something he didn't even know was possible. He just watched, gaping like a fish as they performed stunts in the air like they were born flying. He barely noticed.
They're going to leave.
He flipped the pedal on Toothless's saddle and they shot towards the duo. Toothless, for his part, out of desperation, shot a plasma blast at them, not to harm them, just to grab their attention.
They met eye to eye. The dragon was beautiful; white with pink undertones, and it sparkled in the sunlight like snow. Its eyes were so blue…
The stranger whispered something Hiccup couldn't quite catch over the wind, they had white scales for armor…
He'd hate to think that–
If it was true, if this person had been abusing something so amazing, Hiccup might've killed them, he didn't think he'd go that far, but things would happen.
Then the two were speeding towards the ocean as Hiccup and Toothless followed them. They're going to hit the water–
Then they were gone. Just like that. They were gone, leaving Hiccup and his dragon- quite literally -in the dust. Or smoke.
It would be hours before they went home.
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They did eventually go home. Just not until the sun was starting to set. Hiccup wasn't particularly looking forward to that explanation Astrid owed him.
He was listening, but no matter how hard he tried, his mind wouldn't leave that dragon and its rider, nor that situation and what he would've, could have, done differently.
"Heather pretended to join Dagur to get close to him to avenge her family. When she found out about his alliance with the Dragon Hunters, she decided to get closer to him to find out more,"
That was the entire explanation, it was a stupid one too, if Heather really hated Dagur that much she would've just killed him and left, "Are you sure?" He asked, and he could see her break under his stare.
She sighed, "She also wanted to find out more about Vorder,"
Hiccup snapped his gaze to her once more, "who?" He asked, "Vorder, he's the one you just saw riding the Light Fury," she explained.
So not only had she been hiding information about an important ally to the whole team, but something as groundbreaking and as important as another possible species of Night Fury?
Hiccup was speechless, he felt betrayed. Astrid knew, she knew how important this was to not only him but to Toothless, and she didn't tell him? Why?
Hiccup couldn't help but think about how Astrid might not trust him, and he tried not to think that way, tried to say that it wasn't her fault but, he just couldn't find a reason as to why she would keep something so vital. What did she think he'd do? Kill someone?
"Hiccup, would you say something? Please?" Astrid begged, he felt angry, he honestly wanted to cry. "We're supposed to be a team, Astrid,"
" I know I-I should've told you. I wanted to. I really did," she said, she sounded pleading, like she wanted him to believe her, he still couldn't look at her.
Funny things happen when someone betrays you, all of the sudden, when they say things, even with the rawest emotion, it never sounds real. A new voice in the back of his head told him, warned him, She's faking it. Over and over again.
He knew it wasn't fair, or right, but– "But you didn't," he snapped, "I'm sorry. But without Heather, the Dragon Hunters would have a key to the Dragon Eye right now,"
"And if you had told me about Vorder, those Snow Wraiths could be safely hidden on another island right now!" He whirled on her, he almost regretted it too. The entire team was watching them.
"Not only that, but there's possibly the only other species of Night Fury under an abuser's care and the head of the Dragon Hunters is still out there!"
They paused for a moment, just glaring at each other, before Astrid tentatively said, "Hiccup, Ryker isn't the head of the Dragon Hunters. According to Heather, their real leader is somebody named Viggo Grimborn,"
Oh, so she kept that from him too? His anger and feelings of betrayal increased ten fold. He couldn't even scoff at the names of Gore Grimskull and Viggo Grimdeath, created by Ruff and Tuff. Probably an attempt to lighten the mood.
"He lives in the shadows. Everyone's afraid of him, even Ryker. Heather hasn't met him yet, but she's our best shot at drawing him out," she continued, and Hiccup hated how she always stuck to the business part of things, he got it, this was more important than infighting, but it still annoyed him to no end.
"Well, I hope she knows what she's doing," he said as he walked away to his hut, Toothless followed. He hoped that he'd feel better in the morning.