5 years later

"Hiccup, If we don't get a move on we'll miss the convoy!" Hiccup's eyes darted sideways to see Heather and her dragon Windshear hovering to his right. She was staring directly at him with a scowl on her face. "Those Razorwhips need our help, Hiccup," she stated, reiterating her point.

"Yeah sorry," he replied, "I was caught up thinking about something. You're right. Let's go, gang!" He called out as he nudged Toothless forward, who complied with his request.

A lot had changed since Hiccup had left Berk, five years ago. He had grown up from the scrawny screw-up kid to a still lanky, but more muscular, confident leader of a small group of dragon riders. Heather was a friend they had met years ago on the island of Berserk whilst Hiccup was discussing a treaty with the chief of the island, his adopted brother Dagur. The dragon riders also had a small fleet of several ships captained by Eret, son of Eret. A man who Hiccup had rescued from his death at the hands of Drago Bludvist years ago and who had sworn loyalty to Hiccup and become a good friend of him. And last but not least, Hiccup's second in command, Astrid; the fierce, fiery blonde who had been with him from day one and had watched him grow up to the confident leader he was now. Though Hiccup had not lost some of his awkwardness around Astrid, when it came to making decisions and times of pressure, he was unwavering.

The riders and the men of Eret's fleet had colonized a small island outside of the Archipelago which they had named Dragon's Edge. The island contained dragons of all sizes, shapes, and manners; it was somewhat of a paradise for dragons where some recused dragons would move of from as soon as they were healed and some would stay for life. Most of the dragons on the Edge were fine with the humans that lived there, but a select few would only come near Hiccup and fiercely avoided anyone else. It was this factor among many others that had earned him the name the Dragonmaster among many of the men. The dragon riders were not alone in their quest to help the dragons; Hiccup had negotiated several treaties with tribes outside the Archipelago. Namely Queen Mala and the Defender's of the Wing on Caldera Cay; as well as Atali and the Wingmaidens on Wingmaiden Island. His forces also had an unofficial and mostly secret treaty with the Berserkers on Berserker Island; Hiccup received updates from Dagur on the nature of the politics within the Archipelago as well as reports from Dagur's scouts in return for the promise of protection should any tribes within the Archipelago attack the Berserkers.

The one point, however, that Hiccup had stuck firmly to in his negotiations with his adopted brother was that his riders would never wage war with Berk. Despite leaving the island many years ago, and that fact that Hiccup knew he would probably never be welcomed back, he stood steadfast on the protection of Berk. So much so that in the early days of him leaving Berk, he and Astrid had taken on and ultimately defeated (after a hard-fought battle that cost Hiccup his leg) the Red Death, queen of the nest of the dragons and the one who had forced those same dragons to attack Berk in order to sustain her appetite.

The injury sustained from his fight was what had forced Hiccup and Astrid to Berserker Island, where they had subsequently spend many weeks both recovering and teaching the Berserkers not to fear dragons; forming their first unofficial allies. Hiccup and Astrid had also met Heather on the island as well as Hiccup being adopted as the brother of the tribe's chief, Dagur the Deranged (who was a much nicer and less crazy person that his name suggested). Eventually, Hiccup and Astrid had to leave the island but not before a stray Razorwing had arrived on the isle and taken a liking to Heather, prompting the raven-haired girl to join the other two explorers. From then on the three of them had travelled far and wide, maturing both in age and mental state till they had become a well-oiled unit.

Hiccup's outfit had changed considerably as well. Gone were the loose fitting clothes he wore on Berk. Now he wore a tighter, more tailored outfit made of mostly black and brown leather with some dragonscale. It sported a knife on his left arm and a compass on his right. On his right hip a special sword, that ignited itself using Monstrous Nightmare gel, was sheathed. The whole outfit itself also had one more feature, it contained a flight suit that allowed Hiccup to fly, or more glide, like the dragons. He also carried with him a mask that he used whilst flying to avoid being distracted by the tug of the wind or anything similar.

Currently, Hiccup was leading one of three task forces with the goal to intercept a convoy of dragon trappers who were ferrying captured Razorwhips to be sold. Eret's fleet had already moved in front of the convoy, which was being tailed by the second task force of Astrid and some allies of Hiccup's group, Atali and the Wingmaidens. The Wingmaidens were the ones who had requested Hiccup's help, to begin with as they were sworn to protect the Razorwhips. Hiccup's force consisted of himself and Toothless; Heather and Windshear; a few Razorwings from the Edge; and Blazeclaw, a yellow and purple, titan wing Monstrous Nightmare who only ever responded to the commands of Hiccup. Blazeclaw as also accompanied by five or six normal Monstrous Nightmares, whose jobs were simply to spread chaos and panic throughout the dragon trappers whilst Hiccup and Heather worked on their respective jobs in order to free the Razorwhips. The other two task forces simply had to box in the trappers and stop them from running.

Finally after what seemed like forever, the ships they were looking for appeared on the horizon.

"It's go time," Heather stated as Hiccup pulled his helmet on over his head to focus himself. The time for chatting and jokes was over. It was time to get down to business.

As Hiccup began to draw nearer he saw that the convoy had already been stopped by a small fleet in front of it, whilst simultaneously being attacked by a small force of dragons from the back. He looked over at Heather who looked back at him and nodded simply before she pressed Windshear forward, causing the rest of the force to increase their speed in order to reach the convoy faster. They had to be quick about this. Toothless, being the fastest of all the dragons, took the lead and quickly neared the middle ship. Hiccup prepared himself to execute phase one of the plan; he would head down to the ship alone using his gliding suit whilst Toothless followed shortly behind, from there he would lead the Monstrous Nightmares to distract the trappers whilst Heather and the Razorwings rescued the trapped dragons.

He reached back by his right foot and pulled the lever to the mechanism that would lock Toothless' tail wing in place and stop if from closing before he rolled off the side of his dragon, quickly opening up his flight suit and speeding towards the large trapper boat. He saw a net flying through the air towards him and instinctively pulled his arms into his body causing him to slip underneath the net as it whizzed harmlessly by before he reopened his arms. The ship drew nearer and nearer as he realized that the diving manoeuvre had brought him too low to crash softly into the sails of the ship. Hiccup had just enough time to think about how much this was going to hurt later before he hit the wooden deck of the ship, rolling to decrease his speed and soften his landing before he quickly rose to his feet and pulled in his flight suit before drawing his sword. The flames burned softly as the Monstrous Nightmare gel ignited and thirty or so people turned angrily to face him. Usually, Hiccup would try and minimise loss of life against the less experienced trappers as they were just doing their job; but these men were seasoned trappers who did it more for their own enjoyment than for the money. They had no lives outside harming innocent dragons. They didn't deserve mercy.

The closest three men drew their swords, after recovering from the shock of the man who had just landed on their ship and charged at Hiccup. At this exact moment, a ball of burning hot plasma hit the floor in front of them, sending them flying back in all directions, and a very angry looking Night Fury (with teeth bared) landed next to the black leather-clad boy. Panic was already starting to ensue onboard the boat as three flaming Monstrous Nightmares landed on deck and begun blasting hunters with jets of burning flames; Blazeclaw and the other Monstrous Nightmares were still flying around the ship, grabbing claw fulls of trappers and throwing them around or ripping them in two. Hiccup caught Heather's eyes as she landed at the back of the boat, behind the thoroughly distracted hunters, and he simply nodded at her before diving into the fray.

He ducked underneath the swing of the closest trapper and followed up by slicing the man down the front with his flaming blade, causing him to fall to the floor. By this time two other trappers were converging on him. One man raised his mace up above his head and swung it down to the spot Hiccup had just been in as he rolled out of the way. The mace went straight through the deck and proceeded to get stuck, but Hiccup couldn't dwell on that as the other man swung his sword at the crouching boy. Hiccup raised his sword up to parry the blow and shoved the man backwards as he rose to his feet. By this time the other trapper had his weapon free of the deck and was facing Hiccup, ready to attack him once more. The man with the sword was the first to charge at Hiccup this time but in his haste, he left his side exposed, where Hiccup quickly embedded the blade of his sword; the Monstrous Nightmare gel still burning. The trapper screamed in agony and fell to the floor taking Hiccup's weapon, which was still stuck in his side, with him. Taking advantage of the disarmed boy, the other trapper rushed Hiccup with his mace, swinging it around in an attempt to sweep the boy to the side. Hiccup rolled away from the swing and as the man was still recovering, charged him with a battle cry tackling him to the ground. Hiccup swung his fist's twice at the man leaving him dazed before he drew the dagger, holstered on his left forearm, and stabbed it straight through the man's chest, twisting it till he stopped breathing. Hiccup looked up from where he was leaning over the dead trapper to see ten or so of the remaining few trappers backing slowly away from him. He pulled his dagger free of the man's corpse and holstered it back on his arm (he would clean it later) before he rose and turned to face the hunters.

"You… You're a monster," one of the men exclaimed as they pointed at him. Hiccup chuckled slightly under his mask, he was used to such observations now and they didn't affect him anymore (especially not from men like these).

"Last time I checked," he growled in reply, "You were the people who trap and cage innocent creatures with the intent of using them as slaves."

"Those innocent creatures," the man laughed in reply, "are nothing more than mindless killers. They deserve what we give to them." At this moment Toothless growled at the man as he wandered up next to Hiccup, baring his teeth, and pressing his nose into the palm of Hiccup's left hand, which hung loosely at his side.

"For mindless killers, they seem to be doing a good job of not killing scum like you at the moment," he replied with venom in his voice. The man had no reply to this simple fact.

The deck shook as Blazeclaw and the Monstrous Nightmares landed on the deck, surrounding the remaining trappers. They growled and bared their teeth as Toothless had done but made no attempt to hard the men.

"I'll give you a chance," Hiccup stated plainly, "A chance to learn and become better or to… well, you'll see." The man spoke back up again now,

"We'll never let you bewitch us with your lies. We are dragon hunters through and through. And the only thing we know for sure is those beasts deserve to die!" It was the answer Hiccup got almost every time he said this and though he had a burning rage inside himself for what these people did, he never relished what he was about to do.

"You've made your decision," he stated calmly, "May you live with it for the rest of your short lives." As he finished these words he raised his hand and pointed at the trappers. Responding the signal the Monstrous Nightmares began to spurt waves of burning hot flames into the throngs of the trappers. Hiccup forced himself to keep his eyes fixed on the men and listen to every cry of agony and pain as they slowly slipped from life; after all, this was his order, these men had died because of him.

Eventually, the screams had all died down and no trappers were left alive on the boat. However, everything was not quiet as the sound of battle could still be heard on the other two ships. Hiccup sent Blazeclaw and the Monstrous Nightmares to go and help Eret capture the leading vessel, as he retrieved his sword from the corpse of the dead trapper, before taking up his place towards the back of the boat to cover Heather from any surprises. He was busy checking Toothless for any wounds when the sound of wingbeats alerted him to the arrival of someone else on the ship. He looked up to see the familiar ocean blue of Stormfly, Astrid's Deadly Nadder. Astrid slipped off the back of the dragon and picked her way through the corpses to where Hiccup was stood, smiling lightly at him as she arrived. He was instantly at full alert as it was not part of the plan for Astrid to come to this boat and she never broke protocol except in dire situations.

"Has something happen? Is everyone okay? Where is Atali?" The questions quickly flowed from his mouth like a waterfall.

"N. No. Hiccup. Everything's fine with the plan," she replied trying to calm him down, "But we found something on the ship. We need you to come and look."

"I can't leave Heather alone on the ship, Astrid," was his reply. A matter of fact statement that was quickly countered as Heather's head popped up through the hatch in the deck.

"I've got all the Razorwings, Hiccup," she stated proudly, "You can go with Astrid whilst I take them back to Eret's flagship."

"Alright," Hiccup replied before he turned back to Astrid, "Lead the way."

"Down Stormfly," Hiccup heard Astrid say as the blue Deadly Nadder dropped down onto the deck of the trailing ship. Toothless followed just after, landing softly on the wood before Hiccup slipped off of his dragon's back and adjusted his mask slightly. There were no trappers on deck, just a few bodies that had been piled up as well as the Wingmaidens who were stood around on deck as if waiting for something.

"There's not many trappers for the size of this boat," Hiccup observed gesturing to the small pile of dead bodies. Astrid slipped off Stormfly's back and wandered over to stand by Hiccup.

"That's not all of them," she explained, "The rest of them locked themselves on the top levels of the ship and we can't get through the doors. Atali is making sure they don't escape from there."

"So that's what you need me for?" he asked.

"No, we'll get through eventually. We need you for what we found below deck." She gestured to the hatch that was located at the front of the ship and begun to walk towards it. Hiccup followed her as did Toothless and soon they were stood directly over it. She slid down the ladder of the open hatch and Hiccup followed her a second later, leaving Toothless up on the top deck.

It was darker down in the bowels of the ship. A few torches hung to the walls illuminating the short passageway in front of them slightly; though the visibility was still very limited. Hiccup squinted in the darkness, his eyes coming on a door at the end of the very short corridor that seemed to abruptly end. Astrid was already at the end of the corridor stood next to the door and he moved to join her as he asked,

"So what is it you needed me for then?"

"This," she replied, gesturing between the iron bars at the top of the wooden door. He brought his head up to peer through it and after a few seconds of his eyes adjusting to the darkness he saw it. crowded into the room, chained to the walls and to one another, were dozens of old men, women, and children. They looked thin and pale as though they had not seen the light of day in weeks. He could hear talking in hushed tones and saw a few boney fingers pointing towards him as he felt anger swirl up in his guts. He pulled back from the metal bars and went for the door but stopped as Astrid spoke.

"It's locked," she said bitterly, "and it's dragon-proof. I already tried." her tone was becoming more spiteful with each second, "I can't believe that anyone would do this to people Hiccup. We need to find the key and get them out."

"And we need to punish whoever ordered this," he finished for her, his voice almost savage with rage at the trappers. He took up his role as leader once more as he spoke. "You go and find Eret. Tell him to bring his boat around so we can get these people onto it once we have freed them," Hiccup ordered, still angry but softening his voice slightly for Astrid. He began to walk towards the ladder back to the outside and she ran to catch up with him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"And what are you going to do?" She asked him.

"I'm going to go and find the keys, and hurt whoever did this," he stated simply.

"Okay," she said as he began to climb the ladder, "Just make sure to leave some of that bastard for me."

The door splinted and cracked before it flew inwards; broken into several scorched pieces.

"Good job bud," Hiccup said as he patted Toothless on the nose smile before returning to his calm, cold demeanour as his mind flashed back to all those people below deck. Slaves. He had heard stories of Viking clans who used slaves to do their work and the poor ways they treated them (as though they were not human) but he had never before witnessed it first hand. His blood began to boil with anger as he thought of the treatment of those people; stuffed down below the deck like cargo. He would find the captain of the ship, the person who had allowed this, and he would hurt them.

Hiccup stepped through the broken frame where the door had just been stood and over the bodies of two hunters who, he guessed, had been guarding the door. Toothless slunk in through the frame to the tight corridor just behind Hiccup in order to back his friend up. This part of the ship was lit much better than the bowels of the ship; several torches hung on either side of the wall and surprisingly the area seemed rather empty. It was confusing as Atali had said that she had seen about fifteen trappers run to hide in the area. Hiccup made is way through the maze of corridors and up two sets of steep steps till he reached the very top deck of the inside area of the boat. The floor with the captain's quarters in it.

He rounded a few more corners before coming to a hallway with doors spaced evenly apart on each wall and ending with another door; the captain's quarters. He walked slowly down the passage, trying to make as little noise as possible until he reached the door. Toothless was stood right behind him and began growling. Hiccup reached down for the handle to find that the door was locked shut. He backed up slightly before kicking the door hard in the area by the handle. The wood audibly splintered and the door swung straight open.

He was immediately hit by the stench of fresh blood and looking down at the floor of the room he saw the source. Sprawled out on the floor of the room, in pools of their own blood, were the fifteen men that Atali had seen enter the cabin area only ten minutes ago. He looked up and met the eyes of a man sat quietly behind the desk in the centre of the room. The man's eyes were bloodshot and he had drying blood all over his face and clothes. In his hand he held a bottle of beer which he raised slowly to his lips to take a long draught as Hiccup stepped over bodies into the room, causing beer to run down through his goatee and drip off of his chin. Hiccup positioned himself opposite the man with just the desk separating them, his hands crossed in front of his chest as Toothless slunk around the corner of the room and began to growl quietly.

"I don't like men who run," the man stated calmly, gesturing to the dead bodies littering the floor. His voice was rough and dry like sandpaper. "These men were runners. I don't tolerate that on my ship."

"This isn't your ship anymore," Hiccup growled quietly in reply, "You are captain of nothing." The man chuckled gruffly as though there was some joke that Hiccup had not heard before his face turned sharp and serious.

"I will not bow down and serve you, Dragonlover," he spat as his attitude made an almost one hundred and eighty-degree turn.

"I am not here to ask you to serve me," Hiccup replied with an icy tone, "I am not here to force you to serve me."

"What will you do then oh great Dragonmaster? Are you going to kill me?" He mocked.

"Oh trust me it is tempting. But I already promised someone else they could have the honour. I want the keys to the room below deck."

"Ahh. Just the righteous little nuisance that Viggo said you would be." He reached down and pulled out a ring of keys, slamming them harshly down upon the desk before sliding them over to Hiccup. "Happy now?" the man asked with a mocking tone.

"Not quite yet," Hiccup replied with a smirk as he reached down and grasped the keys.

The captain's hand was still spread out on the table with his fingers drumming rhythmically against the wood. A second later, a knife stabbed itself straight through the hand and thudded into the wood. The screams of pain were cut short as Hiccup grabbed the man's head and smashed it into the desk, breaking his nose. Blood was gushing out of the captain's nose as Hiccup pulled the knife out of the table. He grabbed a hold of the man's collar and pulled him over the desk, scattering the items on the table and leaving the man sprawled out on the floor. The next second he was pulled to his feet with Hiccup's dagger held tightly at his throat.

"Let's go," Hiccup said icily, "Oh and I never got your name captain."

"Fuck you Dragonlover," the man spat in reply along with several teeth and some blood.

The was a resounding thud as Hiccup threw him to the floor. He looked down with disgust at the dragon trapper. It was one thing for these men to capture and torture dragon who they wrongly thought were evil and inferior to humans; it was another to enslave people of his own race. He deserved everything that came to him.

Eret's men were already crossing over several gangplanks onto the trapper vessel in order to plunder what they could for their fleet. Eret himself came just behind the rest of his men, along with Astrid and Heather. He looked with disgust around at the trapper's boat but smiled when he met eyes with Hiccup. It was a short distance over to the leather-clad boy, who was still stood above the downed captain before he got down on one knee and lowered his head in respect. Hiccup pulled off his helmet and tussled his already messed up hair before reaching an arm down to grasp Eret's and pull him to his full height.

"What have I told you about bowing Eret," he said with a slight chuckle, "No one else does it. I am not some supreme leader. I don't know why you feel the need for it." Eret chuckled at his statement before bringing forth the point of his own,

"I am admiring another mission well done and well led by you." Heather and Astrid drew up next to Eret at that moment.

"I assume you got the Razorwings free?" Hiccup asked Heather.

"They are all aboard Eret's flagship, basking in the light of day for the first time since these bastards took them. Windshear and Stormfly are helping them settle in I think." Toothless was stood behind Hiccup and his ears perked up at the mention of his friend Stormfly but he still stood dutifully by Hiccups side. Hiccup saw his friends demeanour and patted him on the head softly,

"You can go back to the ship and see her, Bud," he said with a laugh. Toothless smiled his gummy smile in return and went bounding off towards Eret's ship, knocking a few men over in his excitement.

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked as he turned back for face the other three people.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Did you get the…" She was cut short as he held up the keyring then threw it to her. She caught it and turned to head towards the trapdoor. "You coming?"

"Coming to what?" Heather asked as Eret stood looking confused as well.

"Why don't you ask him," Hiccup said pointing to the captain who was still laid face down on the deck. "This bastard decided that hurting dragons wasn't enough for him and he had to do it with his own race too." He spat these last words out before giving himself a second to calm down. Eret and Heather both looked outraged now at the idea that these people would stoop so low as to hurt other people as well. Eret reached down and grabbed the man off the floor, pulling him to his feet before punching him hard in the gut, causing the captain to fall down once more to the floor.

"What are we doing with this bastard then?" Eret growled in almost inhuman anger.

"Put him in the brig. We'll interrogate him for any information he has on Viggo or Krogan later. Right now those people are our priority. Let's go, Astrid."

"Already on it," she replied making her way over to the trapdoor.

"I'm coming with you," he heard Heather call out as she ran after the two of them.

The last thing Hiccup saw before dropping below deck was Eret wrenching the captain of the floor and throwing him into the waiting arms of four heavily armed guards before punching him once more in the jaw.

By the time his feet hit the floor below the ladder, Astrid was already halfway down the passage and running towards the door. Hiccup helped Heather off the ladder before he walked down the corridor at a steady pace. He watched Astrid shove the key into the door and turn it harshly before kicking open the stiff door. He was close enough at this point to see the people wince as the door flew open and the terrified faces that the people had on.

"Please," he heard one of the closest women whisper almost inaudibly, "we have no information for your leader. Please, let us go. We will not survive as slaves." He saw Astrid's face soften as she turned around to look at him and he gestured to the key in her hand.

"Get them out," he said, "I will talk to the people." She nodded at him as she handed one of the spare keys on the keyrings to Heather and they all stepped through the doorway.

The room was even darker than the passageway so it was impossible to say how many people were in it but that didn't stop the two girls from immediately getting to work, freeing the captives. In the meantime, Hiccup addressed the people, keeping his voice low as to not alarm them.

"The men who captured and mistreated you will harm you no more," he stated calmly, keeping the details vague for the younger people in the room. "We are not here to enslave you. You are all free now. The ship is free of those who harmed you and it is yours' to take if you so wish. I can present you with an alternative if you wish though." A man who looked to be an authoritative figure in the group rose shakily to his feet and wobbled towards Hiccup.

"How do we know that you are not working for Viggo and his men?" He said inquisitively, "he has tried many tricks before. We will not fall for them."

"You want proof," Hiccup replied, "well then you will have to let me show you. But I will need to bring your people above deck for that." At this point, Astrid and Heather had finished freeing the captives and had taken up positions either side of Hiccup. The man looked hesitantly at Hiccup for a moment before he slowly and quietly spoke,

"Lead the way then." He went to take a step but stumbled and would have hit the floor if not for Hiccup who caught him and pulled him to his feet.

"Do you need some support?" He asked.

"I should be fine," the man grunted in reply.

It didn't take that long to move all the captives up out of the darkness onto the deck. Heather had smartly headed back to the flagship, whilst Hiccup and Astrid helped the weakened people out of the hatch, in order to grab some cloth to wrap around the eyes of the captives. After so long spent in the dark immediate exposure to the sun could hurt them. The last man to exit out onto the deck was the apparent leader of the group. With the help of Hiccup, he wrapped a thin strip of cloth over his eyes so that he could still see but not be harmed by the sunlight.

"So," the man said calmly, "you were going to prove."

"Yes, I know," Hiccup replied as he brought his fingers up to his lips and whistled for a few seconds. Wingbeats could be heard not far from them and a second later the deck shook as Blazclaw landed on the trapper ship. Toothless was next to follow as he came bounding over to the ship and nuzzled into Hiccup's side before giving him a toothy grin. The man stared at the interaction between Hiccup and his dragons with a slight smile. Hiccup rubbed Blazeclaw's snout quickly before turning around to face the man. He was obviously semi-surprised that neither the man or the many former captives looked very scared of the dragons. The man bowed his head quietly,

"You have my apologies for doubting you," he said, "No dragon trapper would be able to do what you have done. My name is Jonas. I thank you for saving my people."

"It was all we could do," Hiccup replied honestly, "we are not the type to ignore those in need. Speaking of such I can have some food brought over to this ship for your people. If, you wish to take charge of it."

"You said there was an alternate option," Jonas pointed out.

"Yes, yes. There is. If you wish you can join our forces. We can take you to a safe place where you will be looked after and can stay if you wish."

"I think," Jonas replied hesitantly, "My people would feel safer in the company of your… uhh?"

"Dragon Riders. That's what people tend to call us."

"Dragon Riders," Jonas replied as if testing out the name.

"Let get your people on board then," Hiccup stated as he shook the Jonas' hand, "perhaps your people will have some stories to tell us. We are very sparse on new material." Both men chuckled,

"It would be the least we could do for your hospitality."

Toothless nudged him in the side and Hiccup snapped back to the present moment. He was sat at the bow of the ship with his legs hung over the edge, staring out at the horizon. He had stripped out of his flight suit a few hours ago and now was wearing a more minimalistic but still similar version of said flight suit. It didn't have any of the gadgets or weaponry that the other outfit did but still sported a holster for his flaming blade (or the Inferno as Astrid had dubbed it). It was an outfit more designed for comfort in the many hours he spent planning missions, doing minuscule tasks or just relaxing after long days. Hiccup stared out at the sun that was rapidly setting on the horizon and leaned back into the body of his best friend, who was curled up around him. He rested his left arm on Toothless' head and scratched the top of his nose, sighing quietly in the peaceful atmosphere.

The former captives had long since been fed and given quarters aboard the large vessel. Almost all of the women and children had already returned to their assigned quarters but many of the men were still awake, sat around various fires that burned in iron bowls talking to the members of Eret's fleet. They were swapping stories and altogether integrating themselves into the lives of the Dragon Riders. Their initially surprising comfort with the dragons had become understandable to Hiccup when he learned from Jonas that they came from a former tribe who had lived alongside dragons peacefully. The tribe had been all but destroyed by Drago Bludvist and his army. Their dragons had been slaughtered and only this small portion of the tribe had been taken to be used as slaves and for information. They would likely have become an extinct tribe if not for Hiccup and his forces.

Toothless yawned audibly causing Hiccup to yawn in response. He leaned further back into the warmth of Toothless' body as the dragon wrapped himself further around Hiccup. Hiccup closed his eyes peacefully for a moment but was forced to open them again a second later when he heard someone cough behind him.

"I'm not ruining some romantic moment am I?" He heard a familiar soft tone say behind him. He swung around though still sitting and smiled at Astrid, she laughed at his response.

"You always ruin our romantic moments," he joked in reply causing both of them to smile. "What is it you need, Milady?" Hiccup asked a moment later.

"Eret sent me to get you," she replied, "everyone is gathered in the strategy room. He wants to discuss some things about the recent trapper activity before we reach Caldera Cay."

"I thought we said we would wait to be with Mala before we talked any more about this?" Hiccup replied obviously confused about the change of plan.

"I think what we found today has rattled him slightly," she replied, "he seems a little off about this whole thing now. You should probably come to at least talk to him about it."

"Alright," Hiccup replied semi-reluctantly as he got up. Toothless growled slightly at the intrusion on his comfortable position. "You can stay here, Bud," Hiccup laughed, "For me. Duty calls as always."

Astrid and Hiccup reached the strategy room on the top deck of the boat a few minutes later. They had been stopped on the way there by a few of Eret's men who were having a problem with one of the Razorwings. He had told them to leave the dragon be and that he would come down tomorrow to deal with the issue. Astrid pushed open the door and stepped through into the relatively large room, followed closesly behind by Hiccup. Toothless had already returned to Hiccup's cabin to go to sleep so there were no dragons with them at this time. The room was very sparsely furnished with a large wooden table in the centre of the room and two little chairs. The table was littered with random instruments and in the very centre was a large map that had been constructed years ago by Hiccup with the help of Mala and Eret and updated multiple times every since.

Currently, Eret was hunched over the table, staring down at the map with deep thoughtful creases on his forehead, Heather was perched on one of the chairs idly fiddling with her fingers; and Atali was leaned against one of the walls, deep in thought much like Eret. Eret looked up and smiled as Hiccup and Astrid entered and Heather looked up, her eyes more attentive now.

"Eret," Hiccup said addressing his friend, "I though we said we would not discuss the activities of Viggo's hunters until we were at Caldera Clay with Mala and Throk."

"I know. I know," Eret replied defensively, "But those prisoners we found today change that."

"Do they?" Hiccup asked, "If they change how we view the way that Viggo has moved his men then that doesn't change the fact that we should wait to discuss this with Mala. She is just as much a part of this alliance as you or I."

"Hiccup. It changes everything. We may not have time to wait for Mala. Those prisoners were aboard Viggo's ship with Viggo's men. But they were bound for Drago. The fact that these two have allied changes a lot. If Viggo find the location of Dragon Edge he now has a full army to back up his attack."

"Exactly the reason this should be saved for Mala's ears as well Eret," he replied somewhat harshly, "We agreed on this together. We don't want to make our allies feel ousted right when we may need them most."

"Hiccup is right Eret," Astrid spoke up, her words careful and thoughtful, "If these two have allied we need Mala and her Defenders now more than ever."

"You're right," Eret said hanging his head slightly, "I am sorry I have wasted everyone time."

"Hey," Hiccup replied softly, "It's not a waste of time. We still need to establish some things as a group." He turned to face Atali. "How do you plan on getting your Wingmaidens home?" She pushed herself off the wall and turned to address Hiccup.

"When the Razonrwings are fully rested Minden will lead them back to Wingmaiden Island and I will stay aboard this ship with you to travel to Caldera Clay. If that is alright with you."

"Of course," Hiccup replied, "You are always welcome here Atali."

"Are you sure you want your Wingmaidens to fly back?" Eret asked, "I could send one of my ships that way with them. It is a mighty far distance."

"I am sure they will be fine flying Eret," she replied softly, "But I thank you for your generosity." She smiled at him and he returned the smile.

"If that is all," Heather spoke up a moment later, "Then I will be going to bed. I want to be fresh and ready for when we arrive at Caldera tomorrow." She turned on her heel and strolled out of the strategy room.

"I will retire as well," Atali said as she turned to follow Heather out of the room. Eret said nothing but he also followed the two women out. Hiccup made an excuse to stay, saying that he was going to clear up some things, and Astrid excused herself also; though she made a plan to come back later to make sure that Hiccup did actually go to his bed.

It was midnight when she returned to the strategy room to find Hiccup facing away from her, bent over the table just as Eret had been doing earlier. She coughed loudly from behind him and he spun around startled.

"How long have you been there?" He asked cautiously.

"Only a few minutes. You know I can't resist staring at you," she teased him, "But seriously Hiccup you should be asleep. I thought you told Eret that no strategising would be done without us all here."

"Yeah I know," he replied guiltily, "In my defence, I have been daydreaming a lot. I just got caught up in trying to figure him out." She knew who he was talking about. Hiccup and Viggo seemed to be in an endless battle of wits and had been doing so for several years now. Hiccup may win one engagement but then Viggo would win the very next and this had mostly left the very stubborn Hiccup awake into the late hours of the night; pondering ways in which he could defeat his opponent.

"I know you want to beat him Hiccup," she said softly, "But you will never be able to do that if you wear yourself out." She held her hand out with an open palm for him to take and he gently pressed his own hand into hers. They wrapped their fingers around each other and she gently pulled him out of the room, closing the door behind them. "Come on," she said quietly, "Let's get you to bed."

They wandered through the halls hand in hand until they came to Hiccup's cabin. It was located right next to Astrid's so they were always in close contact. She paused in front of his door and quickly pecked him on the lips before unravelling his fingers from hers and retreating to the door of her room. "Go to bed," he saw her mouth and chuckled to himself before pushing open the door to his room and slipping inside. Toothless grumbled at the disturbance to his sleep and Hiccup laughed again at his friend's sleepy mood. He quickly stripped himself down to his undergarments and slid under the covers of his bed. Falling asleep soon after his head sunk into his pillow.