Author's Note: Surprise!

Toothless paced his cave nervously. Growling at all who came near him. Something was wrong. He could feel it. Hiccup was in danger. He needed to get out of there, but he couldn't leave yet. The dragons needed their Alpha as they prepared for hatching season.

As he continued to pace, his mate walked into their shared cave. She studied her partner worriedly. He'd spent the past two days cooped in the cave, refusing to eat or sleep while becoming increasingly irritated at everything. She figured it had something to do with his former rider, as he continued to draw him over and over again.

She padded over to him, rubbing up against his side. He stopped his pacing long enough to look at her. The Light Fury tilted her head towards the entrance of their home, looked back at him, and nodded. He had her permission to go and figure out what was going to make sure his human was okay.

The Night Fury looked at his mate, licked her forehead, and dashed out of the cave. He took off, flying towards the caldera's exit.

After several long hours, the session was finally brought to an end with Skade taking hold of a dagger and slicing into Hiccup's swollen face. Hiccup groaned in pain, but didn't scream. The young man looked up at his torturer and finally spoke to him, his voice hoarse. "Haven't you figured it out by now? I'll never tell you where the dragons are. I would rather go through this for the rest of my life than tell you where they are."

Skade smirked. "The boy finally speaks. Too bad it's not what I wanted to hear."

He walked over to the door and banged on it to get the guards' attention, so his prisoner could be taken back to his cell.

Toothless soared above the clouds, using them as cover as he tried to search for Hiccup. He'd already flown over New Berk and didn't find him there. And no one seemed to be worried that their chief was missing. Which the Alpha found odd, but didn't dwell on it. Hiccup needed him.

He eventually picked up a familiar scent, but it was so faint, it was hard to track. He didn't give up though. Every time he lost the scent, he'd fly nonstop until he picked it back up again.

It took days of chasing the scent, but eventually Toothless finally found what he was looking for. A Hunter ship. It was sailing towards the Northern Markets. A dangerous place for man and dragon. He had to be careful and wait for nightfall in order to attack.

The Night Fury landed in an isolated part of the forest to lay and wait.

Hiccup laid on the floor of his prison, not daring to move a muscle. Every inch of him screamed in pain from the injuries Skade had spent all day inflicting. His body was littered with cuts of varying degrees, welts from a whip, and bruising from a mace, and he was pretty sure he had been stabbed again at some point, or maybe it was a burn. He didn't dare think about the Mark of The Hunters that had been carved into his shoulder. But at that point, his nervous system had been overloaded. Sure, he felt the pain, but it was all blurred together.

Skade had refused to let the healer get anywhere near him. If he died, he died. No one was to come near him, talk to him, look at him, or even speak about him. He was to be left alone to suffer as punishment for misleading them. It was to remain this way until he decided to cooperate. Only after he told them where the dragons were would he be allowed to receive care.

Hiccup could feel his blood drying against his skin. The sensation made him feel sick. He'd throw up if he had anything in his stomach. He needed to find the strength to move so he could try and clean himself with what he had, which wasn't much. During his session with Skade, someone had cleaned out his cage of all that he had acquired. They left behind only the used bandages. The tonics, bones, his vest, and what little water he had managed to collect were all gone.

After several painful minutes, Hiccup managed to drag himself over to the tattered bandages. It took even longer for him to sit up enough so he could work on unraveling the bandages. As he worked, he thought about Astrid, who was back on Berk, thinking he was probably almost to Saman by now. If Skade was right and it had really been three weeks, it would be another six or so weeks before she began to really worry about him. He doubted he would last that long.

He tried to think about all the adventures he and Astrid had been on—their first kiss, their wedding day, all the times they saved each other from their enemies, and when they built their home. The more he thought about her, the more his pain lessened. The mere thought of her acted as a mental salve.

Hiccup was pulled from his thoughts when he heard footsteps approaching his cage. He couldn't see who it was in the dark, but he could make out the shape of the person. The shaped figure seemed familiar, but he couldn't place who it might be. After a while, the Hunters blended together and looked the same to him.

The person stopped in front of the barred door and dropped something that rolled to the center of the cage. The figure then dashed off as quickly as he could. Whoever it was seemed to want to help him, regardless of Skade's orders.

The Chief crawled his way over to where the supposed gift had landed. As he picked it up, he realized that it was a vial of some kind. He had no way of figuring out what it was until the sun rose. For all he knew, it was poison. No, better to hold on to it for now and try to figure it out in the morning.

The Night Furt watched from his hiding spot as the merchants closed up shop for the evening. He kept a close eye on the Hunters as they boarded their ship and got ready to set sail.

He watched as the ship moved into open waters away from the island. The Night Fury took to the sky and followed the ship. Once it was far enough away, he'd attack. No witnesses. No survivors.

Author's Note: So no twins or going to old Berk. Just Toothless. Again, sorry for another short chapter, I have another surprise (multiple surprises) in store. Feel free to take a guess while letting me know what you think of the story

Until next time