"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Positive."
It was the middle of the night, and the thick fog settled right over the ocean's surface. Perfect cover. The moonlight shining through the fog cover cast an eerie glow over the dragon trapper's ships. Any movement appeared ghostlike.
A lone trapper wandered through the maze of cages filled with dragons. One dragon roared in frustration, earning a clang from the trapper whacking the cage.
"Quiet!"
From behind the trapper, Hiccup made his move, emerging from the fog decked out in armor covered in black scales shed by Toothless. The trapper whirled around, and Hiccup lit up Inferno.
"What are you?"
"Shh!"
Not too far behind, Toothless made his way down a cage, his back spines glowing a brilliant blue, freaking out the trapper, who then attacked Hiccup. Dodging the blow, Hiccup walked into a lamp, knocking it over, flames spilling out over the deck.
Unphased, the dragon and rider marched through the flames, both unharmed.
Just overhead, Zyrah sat atop Blueheart, the two rolling their eyes at the Chief and Alpha showing off.
"AHHHH! You're a demon!" The trapper shrieked in fear.
"Shhh! Shh! Shhh! No, no! I'm not a demon! I'm not a demon!"
"But you walked through fire!"
"Dragon scales! Dragons shed a lot."
"OH! I know a demon when I see one! No human legs are that skinny!"
It took everything within Zyrah's strength not to give away her location by laughing at the trapper's comment. She quickly glanced over to her right at Ana, who was perched atop Dusk's back. The two girls shared a soft giggle.
"That's a good one." She whispered to herself and Blueheart.
Suddenly to her left, Hookfang made his appearance, completely giving himself away by being on fire. And, of course, Snotlout was boasting. Great.
"Think that's a good entrance? Get a load of me! Ahh!" The stout Viking began shrieking in agony with his butt now on fire—another sigh.
"I KNEW IT! MORE DEMONS!" The trapper cried. This was the worst day ever. Hiccup groaned, rubbing his face. Leave it to Snotlout to ruin a stealth mission.
"No, that's just a nitwit who forgot to fireproof his butt."
Then… to really top it all off, the twins made their entrance, with Barf and Belch sparking an explosion, sending the trapper running.
"Behold, your worst nightmare-" Tuffnut began.
"Behold-" Ruffnut cut in.
"...along with his sister, who insisted on coming." The male Thorston finished irritatingly.
"That's my intro?" Ruffnut retorted.
"Guys! Too soon. You always come in too soon!"
Well, that was it—no point in hiding. As Zyrah and Blueheart landed on the deck next to Toothless, the Alpha quickly grabbed Zyrah out of the way as Fishlegs and Meatlug made a rough landing, the former slipping on the deck.
"Ah! Fishlegs!" She exclaimed.
"Sorry, still getting the hang of my wings!" He apologized. A squeak captured Hiccup's attention, just to reveal Fishmeat sitting in the front pocket of Fishlegs' armor.
"Fishlegs! Again with the baby?! This is a raid!" Hiccup exclaimed, exasperated.
"I couldn't find a sitter!" Fishlegs attempted to explain.
"Yet I could leave Nightfire just fine? No excuse, Fishlegs." Zyrah scolded, giving Blueheart a gentle pat on the neck before going off to unlock cages, leaving the female Night Fury with Hiccup and Toothless.
"DEMONS EVERYWHERE! IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!" The trapper cried out as the rest of the riders made their appearance, every one of them decked out in armor from their dragon shed scales.
As the trapper cornered himself against a cage, Astrid leaped down from overhead and quickly knocked him unconscious.
"Astrid! I had him right where I wanted him!"
"And now he's right where I wanted him. Let's get to work." Astrid replied, also beginning to unlock cages.
"Okay, we screwed that up. But, at least nobody else knows we're here."
Following the others, Hiccup made his way toward a caged Scuttleclaw, soothing her as he freed her.
"Easy, girl. It's okay. Shh! We're gonna get you out of here."
For a short moment, the mission was sort of going according to plan until more trappers discovered the gang and began their attack.
Hiccup called for the riders to start letting the freed dragons go and get ahead of them so they could hold off the trappers.
"Get the Night Fury!" One trapper shouted. Zyrah paid attention to the fact that the trappers did not seem to notice Blueheart alongside Toothless, but maybe it was for the best. Less attention, and it allowed them to continue the work they needed to do.
One latch was rusted tight, so Blueheart blasted it open, freeing a Changewing.
Suddenly a trapper snuck up on the pair once the Changewing took off.
"Aha! Another Night Fury!" He shouted.
"Oh, you're not touching her. Go, Blueheart!" Zyrah replied with a smirk, roundhouse kicking the trapper in the chest, sending him flying backward into an open cage. The force of his landing caused the door to swing close and the latch to drop.
"Nice!" The girls rejoined the others where the trappers were still actively fighting.
"There you two are!" Astrid exclaimed.
"Sorry! Got snuck up on! Coming in!"
"No running on the deck! It's slippery, you can fall." Tuffnut cackled.
"Step aside! Let me handle the tough guy stuff!" Snotlout chimed in, pushing Tuffnut aside. Though he quickly began losing the fight, only for Hookfang to come in at the last moment to save his rider, spewing fire.
I'm always saving your dumb ass. Hookfang snorted, sticky fire dripping from his maw.
And you always help get him in trouble. Toothless retorted.
"Yee-ha! That's two for me!" Snotlout cheered as the trapper fled.
Elsewhere, Fishlegs was fighting another trapper, aided by a newly rescued Crimson Goregutter. A mountain of a dragon astonished Zyrah. Fishlegs had heard about this species prior to the raid, and now, purely by chance, the trappers had one.
Zyrah soon joined Hiccup and Astrid's sides, tossing one of her swords to Hiccup to hold off a trapper that made an advancement.
"Thanks, Zyrah!" He called, tossing it back to her.
"I thought this was supposed to be a stealth mission." Astrid then said, hitting another trapper with the pommel of her axe.
"Yeah, they always start that way."
"How many times do we have to raid before we actually get this right?" Zyrah questioned, slashing at two trappers.
I could ask the same. Blueheart said to no one in particular.
Until we can free dragons as quietly as possible, Stormfly replied, flinging spines into the fog.
You two keep working. I'm going to go check on other cages, just in case. Toothless said before meandering off.
Be careful! Blueheart called.
Toothless stopped at one assumingly empty cage as the riders began clearing out from the fight. He picked up the scent of a dragon but couldn't tell whether it was residue or not. But Hiccup called for his help, and he left.
A successful mission…
Mostly.