Chapter Text
It was supposed to be a relaxing flight. No Hunters. No patrols. No one. Just him and Toothless enjoying a flight before supper. They were flying to Dragon Island and then back to Berk. A quick flight.
It was their routine whenever they were back on Berk. Dragon Island's shoreline was a glimmer on the horizon when they were attacked. The ship came out of nowhere and knocked them into the water with single hit from a catapult.
Upon being dragged aboard, their attackers wasted no time muzzling Toothless and shackling Hiccup to the mast by his good leg
It took a few minutes to shake the daze but Hiccup managed to realize what was happening. Hunters had been watching Berk from afar. They saw him coming and successfully knocked him and his dragon out of the sky.
"What do you want?" Hiccup asked, tugging at the chain that kept him from running.
"Johann sent us to send a message. Don't worry, you and that lizard of yours will be free to go when we're done delivering it," a Hunter, who appeared to be the leader, said with a sinister smile.
Hiccup raised a skeptical eyebrow. "What message?"
The leader pushed Hiccup down and pulled a dagger out of his vest. "Oh we'll get it to, but first he told us to teach you a lesson you won't soon forget."
He knelt down, placing his knee on Hiccup's chest, and raised the knife above his head. Before Hiccup could react, the lead Hunter plunged the knife into his left shoulder, straight through his armored padding.
The auburn-haired teenager bit his lip until it bled, trying not to scream. The leader pulled the knife out and tossed it aside as he stood back up. He watched as Hiccup tried to apply pressure to the wound, but couldn't seem to muster the strength needed for such a daunting task.
Nearby Toothless was trying to free himself from the dozen or so Hunters holding him down. His human was hurt and he needed to get to him so they could escape.
"What's the message?" Hiccup managed to ask through labored breaths as he tried to block out the pain.
"The message," the leader began as he kicked Hiccup's hand away from the wound, "is to count your days." He then proceeded to stomp on the wound, feeling a sickening crack beneath his boot. This time Hiccup screamed. "Because your days are numbered."
Hiccup curled himself into the fetal position, trying to protect himself from further blows. He could hear Toothless growling and fighting against the Hunters. But it was useless with that muzzle on. It kept him from biting and shooting plasma blasts. All the Night Fury had at the moment was brute strength. And against a dozen or so Hunters it was useless.
The leader knelt down next to Hiccup's face and leaned so close that their foreheads were almost touching. "Do I need to repeat the message? I hope I do, because I've got a lot more planned if you didn't hear me the first time."
Hiccup nodded. "I got the message."
"Good," the leader sneered as he stood back up. "I guess we can let you go now. But before I tell my men to release the overgrown sack of scales, I have one more lesson to teach you."
Hiccup lifted his head and looked up at the man. He didn't say anything. He just glared at him with all the spite he could muster.
The leader stepped over to where he had tossed the knife, picked it back up, and stepped back over to his prisoner. "The final lesson is that you are nothing without that dragon." He raised the blood-soaked blade and threw it down with all his might, watching it sink into Hiccup's left thigh. "Without that dragon, you are worth nothing more than a sacrifice to appease the gods."
He looked over at his men. "Release the dragon. It's time for them to go. They have a message to deliver."
Two men carefully removed the muzzle from Toothless's snout and stepped back just as the rest of the men let go of him. Toothless wasted no time in running toward his rider. He very carefully nudged Hiccup out of the fetal position until he was lying flat on his back. The dragon stood over his human hatchling, growling at the Hunters that surrounded them. He kept a very close eye on the one that was unlocking the shackle around Hiccup's ankle.
Once Hiccup felt that the shackle was gone, he crawled out from underneath his dragon and used the saddle to stand up. With great effort and assistance from Toothless, he managed to climb onto his back and get his prosthetic leg hooked into the stirrup. "Let's... let's get out of here Bud."
Toothless took the sky and once he was high enough he shot a plasma blast at the ship, sinking it. He then turned, flying back towards Berk.
Halfway into their journey home, a storm began to form above them.
"Great," Hiccup mumbled and he tried to remain conscious. If he passed out now, they'd never make it home. "Come on, Toothless, we... we gotta try and beat this storm."
The Night Fury flapped his wings harder, pushing himself to go faster, but at the same time he didn't want to risk hurting Hiccup more than he already was.
The duo didn't get very far before lightning struck, hitting Toothless's tailfin, destroying it. Thus wasn't good. Berk wasn't even in sight yet. They'd never make it back. Toothless needed a place to land and fast.
He scanned their immediate surroundings and spotted a seastack. The dragon roared and dove toward it. As they got closer he turned and wrapped his wings around Hiccup, taking the full force of the impact for both of them.
Stoick stood in the doorway of his home, watching as the rain drenched his village. Above him, lightning flashed across the sky every minute followed by the loudest thunder he'd ever heard.
"Thor is angry tonight," Gobber said, standing behind.
"Aye, he is," Stoick nodded in agreement. "I'm more worried about Hiccup though. He should have been back by now."
"He and Toothless likely set down to wait out the storm," Gobber suggested. "With all that lightning, they probably didn't want to risk getting struck. Those two wear a lot of metal."
Stoick nodded again. "You're probably right, but all the same, we should head out to try and find them. I need to know that he's safe. If either of them got hit, they could be stranded in the middle of the ocean instead of an island."
"We can't leave. Not in these conditions," Gobber pointed out. "We'd be knocked out of the sky before we even made it past the Sentry Statues."
"Doesn't matter," Stoick said stepping into the rain. "My son is out there unable to get home. If he's hurt he's going to need help. Stay here, if you want, but I'm bringing Hiccup home."
Gobber shook his head following Stoick into the storm. "Nah, I'll come with you. Together we stand a better chance at finding him."