Chapter Text
Blue.
So much blue.
Blue for miles and miles.
A trait found in most oceans.
However, Hiccup was still pissed nonetheless.
“AUGHHH WHERE IS HE!” The viking shouted from atop his dragon. Hiccup cupped his hands around his face and launched himself back in frustration, now laying on Toothless. The dragon growled lowly at the new position his rider took. Viggo was many things. He was calculated, sly, powerful, and now, apparently, gone. It had been weeks since the riders had last seen him. Not even just him, his whole fleet seemed to disappear like a Snow Wraith in a blizzard.
Hiccup screamed into his hands. Where could he be? Where?! It’s not like anyone else could have taken him out! Unless…
Toothless warbled beneath him, snapping Hiccup out of his thoughts. He sat back up with a sigh and looked down at his dragon. “I know bud, I’m sorry.” he mumbled, reaching down to pet his dragon. “Let’s just go back home, okay?” Toothless made a sound of agreement. Gods he felt so foolish. There he was, the future leader of Berk, throwing a tantrum because he couldn’t find one stupid person. He wondered if anyone else felt this way or was Hiccup the only one going crazy.
The island Hiccup and the other riders have called home for the past year slowly came into view. The sun was already setting, stealing away the light with it. Shadows engulfed the forest below and Hiccup couldn’t fight the strange feeling of unease he got while trying to look through the thick canopy. Thankfully, he wouldn’t have to look at it long.
“Late night lookout?” Fishlegs greeted as Toothless landed swiftly on the all too familiar wooden decks of the meeting area.
“Yeah, didn’t find anything though.” Hiccup added and dismounted off of Toothless. The night was cool. A chill breeze sent a shiver down Hiccup’s spine and his arms found themselves crossed close to his chest.
“Why are you so insistent on finding that guy anyway?” Snotlout asked as he chewed his fish dinner. He was sitting at the center table and leaning back in his chair. Both of his legs were crossed over one another and placed directly on the table, something Hiccup has voiced his annoyance over plenty of times. “Shouldn’t we be happy he hasn’t shown up?”
“Well there’s gotta be a reason why he’s not around. And something tells me that reason isn’t a good one.” Hiccup responded while finding his own plate of food.
“Pray tell Hiccup, who is this ~something~ telling you things?” Tuffnut said, accusation clear in his voice.
“Perhaps it is Viggo himself!” Ruffnut declares before Hiccup had the chance to defend himself. “I always thought those two were rather… close…”
“Ruff, he’s my mortal enemy. What are you even talking about?” Hiccup countered.
“Ah but that’s what you want us to think! Isn’t it…” Her eyes squinted towards the, now annoyed, viking. Hiccup just sighed to himself. He was way too tired and way too frustrated to deal with the twins’ antics. A plate of fish and various vegetables were swiftly grabbed and Hiccup made his way over to Toothless with every intention to eat in his hut.
“If you need me, I’ll-”
“Hiccup!” Astrid’s voice interrupted him. Hiccup turned around to see an oddly cheerful Astrid, standing in the doorway.
“Oh uhh, hey Astrid.” Hiccup responded, trying to reciprocate the joy of the other viking but failing miserably.
“Find anything?”
“Nope.”
“But that’s just what he wants us to think!” Ruff exclaimed, an accusatory finger pointed at their scrawny leader. Hiccup sighed even deeper and Astrid’s eyebrows raised in curiosity.
“I’ll be in my hut.” Hiccup said, not wanting to indulge Ruffnut’s sudden paranoia.
“Wait, Hiccup-” Astrid blurted. Hiccup stopped and looked over his shoulder, confused at the sudden urgency. “Uhh, I was planning on.. uhhhhh, washing Stormfly’s saddle! Wanna join me?”
Hiccup paused, giving it some thought before- “Ehh sure, why not. Toothless could probably use it too. I don’t think I’ve even cleaned that thing since I’ve made it…”
“Great, I’ll be at the stables, just come and join me when you’re done eating.”
Hiccup responded with a thumbs-up and an awkward half-smile. He climbed onto his dragon for their quick flight back to his hut. Afterall, soap did not sound like the best sauce for his dinner.
—
Hiccup arrived thirty minutes later. Fed, changed into sleepwear, and holding a–upon closer inspection–really gross saddle. The torches were already lit when Hiccup walked in so he correctly guessed that Astrid was already here. She was sitting on the floor, in the middle of the pens, and had a soapy bucket next to her.
“Hey,” Hiccup greeted casually.
“Hey.” She echoed. Hiccup took a seat next to her and found himself a sponge. The two worked in silence for a while. Nothing but the sounds of scrubbing and the occasional cough or sneeze between the two. Astrid must have warmed the water beforehand because Hiccup found himself dipping his frigid hands in the bucket every now and then to warm himself up. It was nice. Peaceful even. The torchlight casted a harsh orange glow across their features. Astrid’s blonde hair looked almost golden in the light and Hiccup found himself staring at the viking for a few moments too long. One could even argue that this moment is romantic. But Hiccup knew better than to get his hopes up.
“Alright what is it?” He asked, no malice nor accusation in his voice, like he was just stating a fact. Astrid turned to him quickly with a confused expression.
“What do you mean?”
“Y’know you could have just told me you wanted to talk to me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about..”
“Astrid.” Hiccup paused his scrubbing and looked directly at her. “You are perfectly capable of cleaning your own dragon’s saddle. Why do you need me here?”
“What, am I not allowed to just… want your company?” Despite the butterflies in his stomach, Hiccup kept a straight and unammused expression. “Fine.” She cracked, eyes finally meeting his. “You’re a real pain, you know that?”
“I’m very much aware.” The rider replied smugly. That earned a light laugh from Astrid, turning his smug smile into a real one. Astrid sighed and Hiccup returned to absentmindedly scrubbing the saddle, his full, undivided attention on his friend.
“It’s just… We haven’t seen Viggo in… well days.” Hiccup lit up. Finally, he wasn’t crazy, someone else was also thinking about his strange absence! And Astrid wanted to talk to him, specifically about it! Maybe she found out more information, maybe she’s only telling him because she trusts that he can think it through! Hiccup felt almost giddy with joy.
“I know I’ve been thinking about it too!” He said, hope already blooming in his chest. “Do you think that maybe he could be-”
“No, Hiccup it’s not about him or whatever his plans are, it’s you.” She paused and took the rider’s hands in hers. “You’ve just been so… anxious since he’s been gone.” The hope in Hiccup’s chest left as quickly as it had arrived.
“Astrid-”
“And you’re always out on patrol, or in your hut, and you only talk to us to ask us if we’ve seen him.” Hiccup felt his heart crumbling.
“That’s not-”
“And I’m worried Hiccup! I’m worried about you. You always do this! You get in your head and you think and think and think and push everyone away, and sure we get a plan, sure it works out, but it comes at the cost of you and your health. It’s like it’ll kill you if you stop for a second and start caring for yourself! Why can’t you just let it go?”
By the time she’s finished talking she’s out of breath and her face is flushed despite the dropping temperature. Her eyes swim with worry and stress and Hiccup wants to do nothing more than sooth her. But…
“So what, I’m just supposed to not think about our greatest, smartest, cruelest enemy?” Bitterness laced every word. Hiccup dropped the sponge and it landed with a wet thump.
“No Hiccup that’s not what I-”
“You just want me to forget all he’s done and all he’s capable of doing?” Hiccup pulled his hands back and stood up. Astrid rose with him.
“Hiccup, we haven’t even seen him in days!” Anger began to seep into her words. “There have been no injured dragons, no abandoned weapons, no terror mails from any of our allies, No sign of any of his men, and no. Sign. Of. HIM! Can you seriously drop it already?!”
Hiccup was no stranger to being yelled at. One could argue that Astrid wasn’t even yelling, just speaking with passion and determination. And it’s not like she isn’t capable of yelling, she very much is. But Hiccup was already mad.
“No.” He said calmly, clenching his fist tightly. “I won’t.” He turned away quickly, not wanting to see the look on Astrid’s face. He knew this wasn’t fair to her, he knew she was just trying to help, but he was too stubborn to back down now. So he grabbed the half-cleaned saddle, and walked out. “I’ll see you in the morning.” He mumbled to her. He didn’t stay to hear anything else she had to say.
—
“I mean who does she think she is?!” Hiccup loudly complained. By the time he returned the sun was far past being set, and Toothless was settling down for the night. However, his rider had other plans.
“She comes in here, makes an excuse to talk to me, have you ever seen her make an excuse to talk to me?!” Toothless tiredly grunted in response. “And then she says that I’m worrying too much! That I need to take care of myself, which I do! And even if I didn’t, she’s not my mom! And I mean does she even know who we’re dealing with?! We’ve only been able to beat this guy ‘cause we got lucky but what if we don’t get lucky? What if he’s planning something foolproof right now? Oh Thor he’s probably thinking up some insanely smart plan and I’m just sitting here talking to you!”
Hiccup looked over to his dragon who either didn’t care about a word he was saying, or sleeping, he honestly didn’t know which offended him more.
“I just need to think.” He sighed, plopping himself down into his chair. “Just need to outsmart the outsmartable…”
Hiccup sighed deeply as his pencil fell out of his hand for the thirtieth time. I’m getting nowhere, he thought as he leaned down to grab the writing utensil. He wasn’t even writing anything down, just fidgeting with it while he stared off into space; an activity he found himself doing a lot these days. He stretched his very tired limbs and yawned. How late was it? He turned to see Toothless already fast asleep.
Shit, he must have been up for a while.
Hiccup sighed deeply and stood up with a groan. He was getting nowhere with all this thinking, besides he was probably way too tired to come up with any good ideas. So he made the decision to call it a night. The viking walked up his stairs and towards his bed, itching for sleep. The ropes around his metal leg were swiftly untied and he peeled back his blankets and slipped under them. He snuggled into the pillow, closed his eyes, and waited for blissful sleep.
…
That didn’t come.
Hiccup tossed and turned, adjusted and readjusted his position, even tried counting yaks at one point. But he simply couldn’t fall asleep. Hiccup was an overthinker at heart but usually he’d be able to get himself to push those thoughts out of his mind and fall asleep. Not tonight apparently.
Hiccup angrily got off his bed and reattached his prosthetic. Maybe a nightly walk would help clear his mind. As quietly as he could, he opened the large door and left his hut.
The night was nice. The grass was soft beneath his boot and there was a nice breeze that blew his hair out of his face. Hair which was getting really long. Hiccup was a very simple man when it came to his appearance. He wore the best clothes for mobility and comfort, owned the same pair of boots since he was sixteen (though I guess it’s just one boot now), and had the same hairstyle since he was even younger. It went slightly past his ear but stayed right above his shoulders. Now though his hair was, at the longest, going down to his collarbone. When was the last time he’d cut it..?
Around fifteen minutes into the walk, Hiccup found himself in the forested area of the island. He didn’t even realize he had entered it until all he saw were thick trees in every direction. At first he was very glad to have his mind be so distracted by mundane things that he was able to just walk around aimlessly. Though now he finds himself regretting his carelessness a bit. It was kind of dumb when you thought about it. I mean Hiccup had been on the island for almost a year now and the forest he’s spent hours in was starting to scare him? He trained a Nightfury for Thor’s sake!
“It’s fine.” He whispered to himself. “Just retrace my steps and-”
A rustling in the distance made him freeze. The rider crouched the second his mind registered the sound. He heard it coming from behind him. It was no closer than fifteen yards away, no farther than thirty. Hiccup swallowed the lump in his throat and slowly grabbed the small knife he kept on his boot. He inhaled deeply, building up the courage to confront whatever made that sound, and tiptoed towards the sound. As quietly as he could, he pulled away the bushes and-
“Toothless!” Hiccup exclaimed. The pocket knife dropped to the ground. “You scared me bud, don’t try sneaking up on me like that again!” Toothless warbled a sound of laughter and Hiccup started gently petting his head. “Why’d you follow me anyway? It’s way too late for you to be up.” The rider scolded playfully. The black mass opened its mouth and out came a light pink tongue which mercilessly attacked. “Oh stop it will you! You know this stuff doesn’t come off!” Hiccup complained as he fought hopelessly against the slobber. Toothless warbled another laugh before sparing the viking from the slime. “I’m so getting you back for that, once we uh… find a way out of this forest…” Hiccup glanced around worriedly at the nearly identical trees which all led to pits of darkness that entailed who knows what. “You didn’t have to keep track of where-”
Rustling, twenty yards. Neither had had any time to react before Hiccup was grabbed by the arm, and dragged.
“Toothless!” He called helplessly as the already hard to see dragon disappeared in the blackness. Icy cold panic ran up his spine. He was being taken by someone tall, strong, with large, rough hands and heavy boots that thumped in the dirt. The rider flailed helplessly against his attacker which he guessed was not one of the Dragon Riders.
The hands suddenly let go and flung Hiccup into the middle of an opening. His face collided with the cold, hard ground but the pain in his face was the least of his concern.
“Hiccup Haddock, it’s been too long!” The voice sent shivers down Hiccup’s spine. No. It couldn’t be. How’d he even get on the island?! He tried to get up but a heavy hand slammed him back down.
“Wouldn’t get up if I were you.” Ryker hissed in his ear, his hot breath making Hiccup shudder. Rough rope was tied swiftly, and harshly around the rider’s hands. He tried wriggling himself out of the much larger viking’s grasp but it only led to him being thrown to the ground again.
“Easy brother, don’t want to hurt him now, do we?” Hiccup could almost laugh at the irony. He tried reaching for the knife in his boot, hoping to cut the ropes and at least see what he was dealing with. His hand found only leather. Right, he had dropped it on the ground back with Toothless. He quietly mumbled curses to himself.
Wait, shit where’s Toothless?! The rider thought, more panic beginning to rise in his chest. Suddenly a low growl pierced through the opening. Hiccup didn’t need to look to know who it was and felt relieved for a moment. That was until he heard the bushes around him begin to rustle and out of the corner of his eye he saw a drawn bow with a bright green arrow, threatening to pierce anything in its way. Ryker grumbled angrily and grabbed the rider by his shirt and forced him upright. Toothless had broken through the thick bushes and locked his eyes on his rider. Hiccup heard a loud Shhhwiiing! Ryder had–oh so kindly–placed his knife just inches away from Hiccup’s throat. Great.
“Ah and where would Hiccup be without his loyal Nightfury!” Viggo continued, like purple plasma wasn’t already building in the dragon’s mouth.
“Toothless,” Hiccup started. “Go get the others.” The purple light in the dragon’s mouth dimmed and he looked over to his rider with concern. He purred lowly as if saying ‘are you sure?’
“I’ll be fine Toothless, just go and get the others, please.” Hiccup begged. He could already see Viggo's men locking their aim on his dragon. If Toothless was hit by just one of those arrows… The Nightfury purred one last time before he slowly turned around, and ran into the darkness. Hiccup breathed out a small breath of relief. Though that relief was short-lived.
“A shame really, I wish I could’ve had you longer.” Viggo teased as he stalked closer to Hiccup. Ryker’s sword was removed but if anything, he was more nervous now.
“What do you want with me?” The rider spat.
“Wow, no greetings? No ‘I missed yous’? C’mon Hiccup we haven’t seen each other in ages, can’t you show a little excitement?” Viggo was now within arms’ reach of the growingly uncomfortable and bound viking. At the lack of a response, Viggo frowned. “Hmm, quiet as always. Fine, since we’ll be having company soon, let's make this quick, shall we?”
Hiccup scrunched his eyebrows in confusion when something was handed to Viggo. A small, unassuming jar of supposedly liquid. Viggo popped the cork off with a slight smile; a pit was forming in Hiccup’s stomach.
“Now, the less you struggle, the easier this will be for everyone involved.” Viggo said, bringing the jar closer to Hiccup. His mouth snapped shut with an audible click and he grimaced at the bottle now inches away from his face. “Stubborn as always,” Viggo sighed. “Ryker.”
The brother quickly joined by covering Hiccup’s nose, blocking off the only other way for him to get oxygen. The rider thrashed violently as terror began to dawn on him.
“C’mon little one, just open ‘yer mouth.” Ryker hissed. Hiccup started feeling lightheaded. No, he wouldn’t do it. He’d never drink whatever foul thing they were trying to give him. He’d pass out before that would happen, he’d-
A fist was jammed right into Hiccup's throat. He gasped in surprise and Viggo immediately took his chance. The liquid was hot as it entered his mouth. Hiccup thrashed around, trying to break free from the men but they held on tight. He tried to spit the sour, foul liquid out but Viggo’s hand was quickly slapped over his mouth. Tears burned in Hiccup’s eyes as black dots began to encompass his vision. He was out of options. So, despite all his efforts, Hiccup swallowed the liquid.
“Good, see it wasn’t so hard now was it?” Viggo teased as Hiccup gasped for air. The heat of the liquid traveled down his throat and into his body. He shuddered as the coldness in his body began to disappear.
“What-” Hiccup rasped between coughs. “What in Valhalla was that?” Viggo chuckled lowly.
“Now that would ruin the fun, wouldn’t it?” He sneered.
“Viggo,” Ryker interjected. “We should get moving.” Viggo’s smile faltered slightly.
“Sorry to cut our time together short.” He sighed while standing up slowly. “Don’t worry my friend, I’ll see you soon.” He waved. Hiccup followed Viggo with his eyes before Ryker entered his field of vision.
“Wouldn’t want you knowin’ where we were goin’.” Ryker crooned. And before Hiccup could react, a fist slammed into his head, sending him straight into darkness.