Chapter Text
“Come on bud, plasma blast!”
A high pitched ringing sound filled his ears before a bright purple fire filled his eyes before shooting away at the hunter ships in the sea below.
A few nights ago, The dragon riders had received a tip from trader Johann that Viggo would be moving a shipment of over 50 dragons to an island far east of Dragon's Edge and so naturally, they had come up with a plan to rescue those dragons before the hunters could sell them for profit.
There were 7 ships on the seas below them. 6 medium sized artillery ships with archers that shot nets, bolas, and dragon root arrows at them in hopes to capture their dragons, and one huge transport ship that must be the one transporting all the dragons.
With a loud bang, the plasma blast hit its target of one of the ships, sinking it almost immediately.
“Okay gang, only 5 more ships to go. Remember, do not aim for the transport ship. If that ship goes down, all the dragons being moved will drown.” He called out.
In response, a jet of red flame whizzed past and into another ship, sinking it as well. He could recognize the color of flame as Hookflames flame breath.
He tilted his metal leg forwards in the locking mechanism signaling to Toothless that it was dive to dive closer to the ships. As he dived down, multiple nets launched by the hunters flew by, narrowly missing them. Every time one flew by, he wanted to return to the safety of the cloud cover where the nets could neither see nor reach them. But they had to rescue these dragons. Not only for the sake of doing what's right, but also so that Viggo's armada would not get any more powerful than it already was.
Suddenly, a stream of green gas spewed over three of the remaining four ships before being ignited and exploding the ships into tiny shards of debris.
Finally, even though it was nighttime, he could make out the shape of a small chunky dragon hovering above the last offensive ship, before spewing lava directly onto the centre, burning straight through that centre and sinking the ship into the depths below.
“Alright!” Cheered a feminine voice as Astrid and Stormfly glided down to where they were hovering.
“We got them all, now we need to rescue those dragons!”
The gang set off and it took only a few seconds for their dragons to make their way to the deck of the transport ship. There were a few armed hunters holding maces or dull swords but all it took was a singular blast from a dragon to disarm them and send them running, either cowering somewhere below deck or jumping into the waves below.
They all hopped off their dragons and took off running down a staircase to a lower level of the ship. The light was dim, only illuminated by a couple of sconces. Normally in the hunter transport ships the staircase would lead straight to the dragon cages but instead this one led into a corridor that split off into two branching paths. He looked over at Astrid and they both nodded before he called back to the other riders.
“Snotlout, Fishlegs, Twins, you all stay here and make sure no more hunters come down here. I'll take the right side, Astrid, you take the left.” He made a point to make sure that the others were listening, especially the Twins.
“Yeah yeah got it.” Snotlout retorted although Hiccup could tell that he would listen.
He then slowly started towards the door at the end of the corridor. He rested his hand on the hilt of his flaming sword. There could very easily be more hunters down here and he would need to be able to defend himself, but bringing a large group down might also alert whatever hunters were down here to their presence and give them a chance to harm the captives before they arrived. It would be less risky to go solo.
He was just about to reach the large wooden door before his gaze landed on a large piece of parchment hanging on the wall. It was a diagram for a weird ship or something similar, and by the looks of it It, it was designed to be huge. But the weirdest part was not the ship itself. It was the fact that in some illustrations of the boat, there was a dragon the same size as it directly underneath it. He stopped and scanned the diagram for any clue or sentence as to what it actually was but all it said was “Project Shellfire” in the bottom left corner.
“What in the world?” He mumbled to himself before snapping his attention back to the much more urgent task at hand. Freeing the dragons.
While Hiccup was busy studying the diagram, Astrid made it to the door on her side and pushed it open.
The first problem she noticed was the silence. Normally, the dragons kept in the cages are pretty quiet, depressed and starved and too tired to fight back against their captors. But this- this dead silence? Something wasn't right.
And when she opened the door further, The room was completely dark.
An intense feeling of dread started to grow in her stomach as she walked over to the cages.
It was empty. Astrid walked over to the next cage. Empty as well.
Suddenly she knew what was going on. It was a trap! They were lured here and made to think that they would be rescuing dragons but really it was a ploy for the dragon hunters to kidnap them and steal their dragons.
She opened her mouth to call to Hiccup and warn him that he was walking into a trap but right as she was about to yell she felt an incredibly sharp pain in her right leg that made her instantly crumple to the floor.
Looking at the back of her leg, she could see an arrow sticking out of it and pools of blood gushing out. The thing must have been at least an inch and a half deep.
She again tried to yell to warn Hiccup and this time her voice actually came through.
“Hiccup! It’s a trap! Don’t g-” Her voice was cut off as a gag got shoved into her mouth. She tried to spit hit out but before she could make any real progress, She felt something heavy strike her in the head and she blacked out. Her last thoughts before everything went dark was “at least I was able to warn Hiccup”.
But her warning was in vain, as by the time Hiccup had heard it he had already walked through the door and right as he was about to step out of the room, an arrow came flying and hit his left hip.
He yelled in agony as he fell to the ground and tried to scramble back out of the room, but just as he was about to, a tall figure walked in front of him and closed the door slowly, cutting off his only source of light.
He was in darkness and he was in pain, but to his displeasure, he certainly wasn't alone. He strained his neck up to try and tell who had closed the door but it was too dark to see anything, not even if it was right in front of his face.
“Ah my dear Hiccup.” Spoke a voice that he had come to dread from somewhere above him.
“How nice it is for a well thought out plan to succeed so thoroughly!” His voice was laced with triumph and power. It was mocking.
Suddenly he dropped all those qualities out of his voice as he spoke to other hunters in a tone that sounded bored.
“Drug him. Make sure he doesn't wake up for at least a few days. And don’t harm a hair on his head. I need him alive for what I have planned for him.”
He was about to ask what he was talking about but before he got the chance a hunter firmly grabbed him by the neck and forced his face down so that his nose was just above something he was holding in his other hand.
As he felt whatever it was take effect on him, he fought his eyes to stay open. Right before he passed out, he saw a bright flash of light and saw Viggo's face illuminated by something on fire. His expression was that of triumph and victory and he made a noise of someone figuring out something he was wondering about. He’s holding the dragon blade! He suddenly realised with anger.
That was his last thought before the whole world went black.
Outside, the other riders were struggling. At least 30 more hunters had appeared seemingly from inside the walls and with Astrid most likely captured based on the screams and Hiccup not returning, Fishlegs was not confident in the fact they would leave this ship with their whole group intact.
Currently, he was cowering behind meatlug. She had ran out of magma shots in the skirmish in the air so she was doing her best to fend off the hunters with the club of her tail. It was working mostly, but as if someone is able to land a hit, she is pulling her back and flying away. He did not want to risk losing his dragons. Not when they had already captured his friends.
It was a losing battle for the riders. Hookfang, Barf, and Belch were all exhausted and Toothless and Stormfly were busy panicking and clawing at the ship trying to rescue their companion instead of fighting off the hoards of hunters.
“Um guys?” Fishlegs yelled in a slightly unsure voice. “Maybe we should retreat. I don't think we're going to win this one. We need to fall back and make a plan!”
“Uh, and prove that we’re useless without Hiccup and Toothless? Come on! We can still win this!” Snotlout yelled in his usually angry voice, but it trailed off into uncertainty as he finished his sentence.
Another swing of a sword swung too close for comfort and he decided they had to leave.
“No. We’re retreating. Dragon riders, regroup in the sky he said before jumping onto Meatlug and flying away as fast as she were able (which wasn’t really that fast but he would never tell that to her).
“Fine!” Ruffnut yelled as she swung a sword at a hunter who had tried to sneak up on her from behind. “But I get to ride Toothless, since Hiccup's not here”. Upon hearing that, Toothless, who had just finished clawing at the ship, turned to Ruffnut with a slightly agitated expression. But he started his way towards Ruff, growling at any hunters who got too close. None of them wanted to fight a night fury at close range.
Suddenly, an all too familiar voice rang out over the sounds of battle.
“Cowards! Do I have to do everything myself around here?!” The voice of Ryker yelled.
Toothless was preoccupied with a hunter who was trying to capture him with a net and so he didn't hear the sounds of Ryker running up behind him.
The night fury let out a screech of pain as the blade of a dagger held by Ryker slashed open his side, leaving a gushing open wound that would definitely scar.
Toothless lashed around in pain, swinging his tail wildly while also shooting plasma wildly around the ship. Ryker jumped away from the dragon with a satisfied smirk on his face, visibly proud of the damage he had accomplished.
Finally, Ruffnut reached Toothless and in a swift move, leapt into the saddle on Toothless’s back. She jammed her food into the mechanism, not really having a clue on how it really worked, but it seemed to do the trick as as soon as Toothless felt the artificial tailfin fan out, he leapt into the sky and shot up aiming for the cloud cover, raining streams of blood down on the ships. Meatlug had already taken Fishlegs away and Tuffnut was riding Barf and Belch solo. Hookfang had to grab Snotlout with his mouth and pull him away from the fight, much to the vikings dismay and anger. The last to take off was stormfly who only left the ship once she realised that all the other hunters would now solely focus on attacking her. And so she as well lept into the sky, aiming for the safety of the clouds.
“Archers! Ready your dragonroot arrows!” One of the hunters called before Ryker yelled over him.
“Stand down archers! No need to waste arrows. They're long gone by now. Besides, we’ve got what we need.” he Said with an eerie grin.
At that moment, Viggo emerged from the cage area of the ship and surveyed the dragonless deck, Before walking up next to Ryker and placing a hand on his shoulder.
“The riders retreated?” asked Viggo calmly, not a hint of surprise in his voice.
“As soon as they realised it was a losing battle.” Ryker confirms “Did you get the boy?”
“Of course of course. Were you able to do your part?” Viggo asks questioningly to Ryker.
In response, Ryker puts out his clenched up fist in front of them before opening it, revealing a small glass vial of Toothless’s blood as well as a handful of night fury scales.
“Excelent. Then we have everything we need.” He said before removing his hand and then turning to face the hunters.
Prepare the decoy ships! We return to camp as soon as possible. We cannot risk losing what we’ve just acquired!” A series of ‘yes sirs’ and nods came from within the crowd of hunters before they turned and got on with the meeting.
Viggo smiled. Everything had gone perfectly. They were even able to capture the girl. She was unnecessary for the bigger picture but it would be nice to have her in case anything… went wrong. He breathed a sigh of satisfaction. He just loved it when a good plan works out perfectly.
When he came to, Hiccup's head was throbbing. The pain was so bad, It felt like there was an invisible angry viking standing over him and hitting a hammer into his head over and over. over.
Everything hurts. He tried to open his eyes to get a sense of his surroundings but he immediately shut them again after he saw how messed up his vision was. He decided he would rest his eyes until he stopped seeing triple.
It wasn't just Hiccup's head that was in pain; however, his whole body was sore, bruised, or even numb in some places.
After a good moment of just lying there, he opened his eyes again. This time, his vision was a lot more clear and he was actually able to focus on things, although the light from the sconces that dotted the walls of the (was it a cave? It looked sort of like a cave, where was he?) shone way too brightly in his opinion and staring at them only made his headache worse.
Suddenly, he realized that he had absolutely no clue as to where he was. Hiccup jolted upright until he was in a sitting position where he could get a better view of his surroundings. He was in a cell. Three of the four walls were made of brown stone. The final wall was a large metal gate that could only be opened with a key.
Oh fuck.
He was in a prison cell.
Suddenly, all the memories came rushing back. Learning about the large dragon shipment that turned out to be a trap, Going in dragons blazing thinking they had the upper hand, and then getting tricked and captured by Viggo.
Oh no. nononononononononono!
If the last thing he remembered was being captured by Viggo, That meant that there would likely be no possible way to escape, and if Viggo already had the dragon eye, He no longer had any reason to keep Hiccup alive.
He probably only has kept me alive so that he can see the look on my face before he executes me, or he’s keeping me alive so that he can torture me for ruining all his buisness dealings.
In any case, there was not a scenario in his head where Hiccup got out of here alive. Viggo was too smart for him to escape.
He started to hyperventilate. Hiccup had been close to death many times before, sure, but never had he been helpless, just waiting for the inevitable end that would come at the hands of his enemy.
He tried to stand up and walk over to the gate to see if he could get a better sense of where he was. Was he underground? Was he in a cave? Were there other prisoners? Did they capture Astrid?
With that thought, he springed to his feet, well, he tried to. Instead, as soon as he pushed himself off the ground, the world started doing summersaults and a pain in his back that he hadn't noticed before made itself known.
He fell back into a sitting position slumped against the wall. He felt trapped. Most likely because he was, in fact, trapped. But not just that, He felt helpless. He would always hold out hope that the other riders would rescue him, but without knowing whether the riders were back on the edge planning his rescue at this very moment or trapped alone in a cell just like him made it a bit harder to have faith.
As he dwelled in his thoughts, he didn't notice the figure of a man approaching the gate until he cleared his throat to bring attention to him.
Hiccup raised his head to look at the bars. On the other side of the locked gate, was Viggo Grimborne, standing oh so triumphantly staring down at him. Even though he knew that he had been captured by Viggo, seeing him in person, on the other side of a cell, really drilled it in that he was at the mercy of his enemies.
After only a moment of examining him, Viggospoke, his voice filled with a mocking tone that clearly made it known that he had won their constant game, once and for all.
“Ah, Hiccup. It is a pleasure to see you awake. I was starting to think my men had put you into a coma perhaps. It is a relief that I don't need to… get rid of any more men this week. I hope that your feeling well rested, you were out for quite a while.”
“You know very well I'm not, Viggo.” Hiccup responded, still processing what Viggo said. Why did he want him well rested? Why did he want him unharmed? Viggo was unpredictable, sure, but he always had a reason for it. Hiccup shuddered thinking of what bigger plan Viggo wanted him unharmed for.
Viggo didn't take the victorious smirk off of his face as he continued talking. “As you know, I have always admired your intelligence and skill in battle, I have even recreated a few of your… gadgets. You are an incredibly talented boy, Hiccup, It's really a shame that we have to be working for different sides.”
Hiccup had heard Viggo's sweet talk before. It agitated him to no end that Viggo, his biggest enemy, admired his intelligence and skill. Fed up with Viggo's admiration, Hiccup got straight to the point.
“What do you want from me, Viggo? What are you planning? I know there is a reason you want me unharmed and rested. You always have a reason. Do you really have to be mysterious or can you tell me what you're going to do with me?”
“Ah Hiccup, again your intelligence follows through. You are correct that I fo have a reason to keep you unharmed, but I'd like to keep you guessing for just a little bit longer, is that all right with you?” Viggo asked mockingly.
Hiccup didn't see a point in replying. Talking back would only lead to more pointless conversations with Viggo that he would rather just not have. Instead, je used silence as an indicator that he was done with this conversation and wanted Viggo to leave.
“Well, I must be on my way. There are some final preparations to be made, before the fun can begin. I shall see you shortly Hiccup, It has been an honor being your adversary, but I've had enough of you destroying my business. You best prepare for what's to come, mentally, I mean. Change can be so taxing on the mind… don't you think?” And with that, Viggo turned away, leaving Hiccup seething with quiet resentment for his enemy.
Hiccup slumped back down against the wall, contemplating Viggo's words. What did he mean by ‘Change’? What was he going to do to him? Every moment he couldn't draw an answer made him more confused and more afraid. Viggo had the dragon eye now, the possibilities that that opened for him were endless. Viggo was cruel and whatever torture was awaiting him, he knew it would be cruel and unusual.
On the bright side, it didn't sound like Viggo had managed to capture Adtrid, or Toothless, or any of the dragons and their riders. It was just him, which was good. He could withstand Viggos torture long enough for his friends to save him. He could, he would make it through this, no matter what Viggo wanted to do to him.