Hiccup returned from his flight well sundown that evening, red-faced and breathless from exhilaration. Valka chuckled quietly as her son and his dragon walked in the door of the Haddock household, both grinning like absolute idiots. Toothless trudged over and rolled on his side near the fire, exhausted.
“Looks like you’ve been having fun.” She placed two plates of an unrecognisable substance on the table. Hiccup flopped down in a chair, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.
“Yeah… Sorry. I had a spare minute and Toothless was rearing to go.” He said, carefully avoiding his mother’s gaze.
“Mmhm.” smiled Valka. “And did you get ANYTHING productive done today?”
Hiccup sat straight up in defence. “Yes! Plenty, in fact.” He folded his arms across his chest, looking smug. “I was at the forge until four, and before that I was…. supervising. Something.” Valka scoffed. “Very productive indeed.”
Her son hung his head over the back of the chair. “C’mon, Mum, give me a break. Chiefdom is exhausting.” The woman smiled gently, turning to stroke her son’s hair.
“I know. I know.”

Valka was slowly settling into civilian life, after twenty years of only reptile contact. She had been regularly socialising with the rest of the village women, and although she seemed a lot more comfortable around people, she still slept fitfully most nights, haunted by the violent death of her husband. Hiccup couldn’t blame her, he was the same way.

He often wondered what life in the village would be like if his father was still here; if Toothless had killed him instead. Things would be a whole lot better for a lot of people. The overwhelming guilt consumed him daily, even six months on. Hiccup rested his head in the palm of Valka’s hand. She sighed, squeezing his shoulder. “You should get some supper and go to bed, young man.” She smiled. “You look famished.”

Hiccup took one glance at the lumpy grey substance on the table and gulped. “No thanks, Mum. I’m actually not all that hungry. He stood up, pulling his mother into a tight hug before she could protest.

“Goodnight!” he called over his shoulder, practically sprinting up the stairs.

Valka laughed, shaking her head, and turned back to the table.
“Goodnight, son.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was past midnight when Valka shook Hiccup awake.
“Eret’s at the door. He looks worried.”
Hiccup mumbled something about beauty sleep and rolled out of bed, motioning for Toothless to follow him.
Eret, Son of Eret, usually so calm and collected, seemed agitated as he watched the Viking chief trudge towards him.
“Hiccup… I, uh, was on patrol. I saw something.” He looked around nervously. “It was a ship. Sailing into Nightmare Bay. I couldn't see any more, just the one.”
Hiccup frowned. “Are you sure? If it’s an attack, we should easily be able to take only one shipfull of men.”
“That’s what I’m worried about.” breathed Eret. “If it’s not an attack, then what is it?”
“Are you sure you saw something?” Hiccup yawned. “It’s pretty late, you might have just… dozed off?”
“Positive. “
The chief sighed. “Alright. Let’s check it out.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nightmare Bay was one of the north-facing areas of the island, so it was completely unprotected from the bitter arctic winds that blasted Berk year-round. That, combined with the fact that a light sprinkle of rain had begun to shower down upon them meant that Hiccup, Eret and their dragons couldn’t stop themselves from shivering as they landed just beyond the bay. Hiccup slipped of Toothless’ back and crept towards the treeline. Waves crashed upon the sharp, jagged rocks, tossing spray high in the air. No ship could ever moor here, let alone land.

“I can’t see anything.” He called to Eret. The man came to stand next to him.
“I-I don’t understand.” he stammered. “It was right here, I saw it with my own eyes!”

Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream pierced through the night, making the two vikings jump in fright.
“What the…” Hiccup began, but his words were cut of by yet another scream, even louder this time. Out of instinct, the pair jumped on their dragons’ backs.

Hiccup swore loudly. “Eret, it’s a trap. This whole thing. We need to get back to Berk NOW!”

“A trap?” Eret yelled at their steadily retreating forms. “Who’d set a trap?”

Hiccup’s voice was barely audible by the time he answered. “I DON’T KNOW!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A million thoughts rushed through Hiccup’s head in the seconds before he reached Berk’s township. How could he have let down his guard so easily? Who was attacking? Drago was dead. At least he thought so. Everyone he loved and held dear was back in the town. Valka. Astrid. Goober. The rest of the gang. Everyone, and he had let himself be tricked into leaving them. The thought made him sick.

But the sight of Berk made him sicker.

Men and women, still in their sleeping clothes, were out warding off soldiers in black and red uniforms. Dragons swooped at the attackers, and Hiccup yelled as he watched catapults and nets bring them to the ground. The rain poured down on the village, extinguishing fires and releasing billowing clouds of smoke into the air.

The soldiers had an unfamiliar emblem on their shields, but he wasn’t close enough to see them properly. He looked around for anyone he knew. Snotlout and the twins were swinging wildly at a group of enemies, and he thought he caught a glimpse of Valka and Cloudjumper. As Hiccup watched, he noticed that the soldiers did not seem to be trying to kill anyone, only disarming them. “Why would they…” he began.

It was then he saw a small group of men, all in black, standing on the edge of the forest. He nudged Toothless towards them, dodging nets and other riders. The rain stung his eyes as he squinted at his target. They hadn’t even seen him coming yet.

“NOW!” he yelled to Toothless over the chaos. The dragon released a single, perfect orb of plasma that went sailing straight towards the men, hitting the ground just in front of them. The sheer force of the blow knocked them backwards several metres, and they were sent sprawling onto the ground. Toothless crowed in delight and did a loop to head back towards the village. Hiccup looked behind him. The soldiers were still trying to get up, but there was one who had his eyes fixed on Toothless, as though he was under a spell. The dragon bent round the side of the Great Hall, and the men were cut off all together.

Turning his attention back to the current situation, Hiccup flattened himself on Toothless’ back. The villagers seemed to be fighting a losing battle, with many of them surrendering, weaponless, to the massive army. How could they have possibly sneaked in without Hiccup noticing?
Toothless dove again, taking out crowds of the enemy left and right. He swooped back around near the Haddock house, landing just outside. The door was wide open, but no-one seemed to be inside.

Suddenly, he heard a dragon’s scream and turned around just in time to see Cloudjumper plummet out of the sky and hit the earth with a sickening crunch. He screamed his mother’s name, unsheathing Inferno and running towards the dragon as fast as he could. In the chaos, he completely forgot about Toothless, who had turned to ward off a gang of soldiers.

Valka struggled, caught in the thick netting that had encaptured her and her dragon.
“Hiccup!” she yelled, seeing her son running towards her. He fell to the ground and began to saw through the ropes that bound her.

“What happened?” he panted breathlessly.
“I don’t know.” Valka muttered, doing her best to help. “I heard a scream, and then suddenly it was pandemonium.” Hiccup cut through the last binding and attempted to haul his mother out of harm’s way. Valka yelped, coiling over and clutching her leg. “Let go,” she cried. “Hiccup, stop!”
Hiccup let go, seeing his mother writhe in pain. “It’s broken.” she gasped. “Cloudjumper must have crushed it.” He winced. Valka’s leg was bent at a strange angle, a lump sticking out from her calf. She bit her lip, then her eyes widened.
“Hiccup.” she hissed. “Where’s Toothless?”

Hiccup’s breath hitched. “Oh, gods.” He whispered to himself.

“I’ll be right back.” he shouted to his mother, turning and running. “I need to find my dragon. BE CAREFUL!”

When Hiccup spotted him, Toothless was faced head-on by a large band of soldiers. They forced their way towards him, and Toothless shot plasma blasts left, right and centre. Hiccup counted them in his head.
“One… two… three.. four…” The dragon swung his tail, taking out the remainder of the group. But they didn't stay down for long.
“Five…” Hiccup groaned as Toothless reached his shot limit. He had made a terrible mistake.

Suddenly, Hiccup tripped over, falling flat on his face in the mud as the sounds of battle swirled around him. His head hit the ground with a great thud, disorientating him for a few seconds. He heard Toothless’ scream as the men charged towards him, and then a ferocious battle cry that he knew all too well.

Astrid Hofferson looked the soldiers dead in the eyes, challenging them to come any closer. Toothless wrapped his tail around her, like he so often did to Hiccup, and the pair took a stand. But they were only two, and as Hiccup heaved himself off the ground, the men stormed.

Toothless bared his teeth, lunging at them, but the soldiers only tried to grab him and force him to the ground. He shook them off with a gigantic beat of his wings, and the men went flying backwards. Astrid, however, was soon faced by at least four or five of the enemy. She swung at them with fury in her eyes, and they swung back.

Hiccup sprinted as fast as he could, coughing and spluttering in the smoke. Toothless was slowly becoming overwhelmed as more and more soldiers leapt onto him. A man grabbed Astrid by her arms, and she screamed as the weapon was ripped from her hands. Hiccup yelled out, and Toothless turned his head towards his rider.

Suddenly, an jet of fire appeared from above. The soldiers cried out, backing away as the form of Eret and Skullcrusher swooped above them. Astrid and Toothless were momentarily released, and both rolled over to run towards Hiccup. The soldiers yelled out and followed them.

They had almost reached Hiccup when a soldier appeared by Astrid’s side, grabbing her by her braid. She yelled out and struggled as the man wrapped his arm around her throat.

“ASTRID!” Hiccup screamed her name, but the rest of the soldiers had already reached her. Toothless turned and bounded back towards them, growling. The man who held Astrid unsheathed his dagger, holding it against her throat as she struggled, choking.
“Not a STEP closer.” he warned, looking Hiccup in the eye. “Keep that dragon under control, too.”
Astrid clawed at the soldier’s arm, but he kept a firm hold around her neck. Hiccup grabbed Toothless before he could attack them.

The soldier looked around, smiling in victory. Then he stared Hiccup straight in the eye.
“Take her away.” He threw Astrid on the ground behind him. She choked and spluttered, gasping for air. Hiccup released Toothless and took a step towards her.
“Astri…”

But her name died on his lips as the soldier swung his fist at him, and everything went black.

Astrid woke to the sound of hushed chatter. From the uncomfortable pose she was positioned in , thrown in what seemed like the back of a wagon, plus the fact that her hands were tied behind her back, she guessed that she had been given some sort of herbal concoction to sedate her. Wriggling around, she managed to sit up and peer over the side of the wagon. Around her, men in black and red uniforms sat upon the backs of horses, talking and laughing to each other. Suddenly, the events of the previous night came flooding back to her.

Toothless… he had tried to protect her, but the soldiers got her. And Hiccup, he was hit over the head, and that’s all she could remember. Tucking her knees underneath her, she looked around. They seemed to be travelling through a burnt out forest, and she could see other wagons laden with food and supplies that had obviously been stolen from Berk. Astrid gritted her teeth, and yelled out.

“Hey! Who do you think you are?”

The procession of soldiers stopped, turning around to look at her. One, in particular, dressed differently from the rest, smiled and stepped her way. His steed snorted, tossing its head proudly.
“Ah, I see the princess has awoken!” He bowed, causing sniggers from the other men. Astrid laughed sarcastically.

“I’d watch who you’re calling princess, buddy.”

The man raised his eyebrows skeptically, sliding out of the saddle. He looked barely much older than Astrid, with dark hair and high cheekbones. He was quite tall, and up close, Astrid had to admit that he was quite handsome. His mouth curved up at the corners slightly, and he had gorgeous blue-gold eyes that were both mysterious and strangely alluring. Astrid shook off the thought, and focused on glaring at him with all the ferocity she could muster. He tilted his head at her.

“I’m terribly sorry, miss. T’was only in the interest of respect for a lady.”

Astrid tossed her head. “Oh, and I suppose handcuffing and throwing someone in the back of a cart is also “respect for a lady”?”

The man laughed. “You could call it that.” He motioned to the wagon driver. “Untie her. She won’t do any harm.”

Astrid tried to make releasing her from her bindings as difficult as possible for the driver, just to spite the army. The young man watched them the whole time, with an expression of mild amusement on his face. Astrid stood up, purposely standing on the driver’s toes.

The man offered his hand getting down, which she blatantly refused. He chuckled. “You ARE a stubborn one, aren’t you?”

Astrid stared at him indignantly. “What am I supposed to do, treat you like you didn’t just kidnap me and raid my village?”

“Well, a little appreciation for my lack of cruelty towards you would be nice. After all, you are a prisoner.”

She looked him up and down, not knowing quite what to say. Something about him reminded her vaguely of Hiccup, with his witty comments and charm. “You DID just untie me. I could bolt any moment.

He smiled. “Aaahhh, but I don’t think you are going too. I have a feeling you’re smarter than you look. You KNOW that you wouldn’t get even ten metres.”
Astrid swallowed. “You don’t even know me.”

“Yes, but it’s fairly obvious that you’re very sure of yourself. Anyone could tell.” He extended his hand to her. “Ridian of Faroe, at your service. And since I’m assuming you don’t want me to call you Princess, I think it’s best you tell me your name, too.”

The girl bit her lip, tentatively shaking his hand. “Astrid.”
Ridian smiled. “Such a pretty name. For a pretty girl.”

Astrid’s eyes flew open. “Oh, no. I’m not falling for your charm, mister. And plus, I HAVE a boyfriend.” The young man laughed.

“I know. And I know he’s the chief of Berk, and that he rides a Night Fury, and I also knew your name before I asked. Quite honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t pick up on that. We wouldn’t just take ANYONE off the streets to hold at ransom, would we?”

Astrid cursed. “Really?”

Ridian raised his eyebrows.

She groaned. “Personally, I’m a bit offended that you’re just kidnapping me to get to Hiccup. It’s not the first time, either.”

“Oh, I don’t want your boyfriend.” Ridian unsheathed his sword, holding it up to the sun and inspecting it absent-mindedly. “I want the Night Fury.”

Astrid laughed. “And so you’re holding ME at ransom? Wow, what a fantastic plan.” She looked around at the army. “Honestly, you could've come up with something better.”

Ridian tilted his head. “Really? Because I’m pretty sure your darling Hiccup would rather give us his dragon for a bit than watch you be tortured and burnt right in front of him.” Astrid looked him in the eyes, her face smug.

“You wouldn't do that.”

The young man raised his eyebrows. “Wouldn’t I? How do you know, Miss Hofferson?”

Astrid took a step closer, her voice dangerously quiet. “Because you’re weak, Ridian of Faroe. You’ve never been in a war, you wouldn’t know what to do if you were. At the moment, you’re just trying to intimidate me, which is the most pathetic form of fear. You wouldn't be able to kill me, not even if you wanted to. You’d be too scared.”
Ridian gritted his teeth, speechless. “What do you…”
“You said it yourself.” Astrid cut him off. “I’m smarter than I look.”
She climbed back into the wagon.
“What are you doing?” the soldier hissed, embarrassed.
Astrid tossed her head. “I thought I was a hostage? Unless you’re going to let me go… But that’d be letting me win, and you wouldn’t like that.” She smiled cruelly, watching his discomfort. Some of the riders around them had started to whisper to each other, and Astrid could see Ridian’s big ego rapidly deflating. She laughed.

“Don’t worry. You needed a reality check anyway.”

Ridian stared at her in disbelief, then a faint grin crept onto his lips.
“You are a snarky one, aren’t you?”

Astrid looked him straight in the eyes. “More than you’d believe.”