RttE: Edge of Insanity CH2 NOW UP
Posted: 23 Jun 2016, 18:31
by Rush2112
NOTE: This is IMMEDIATELY following end of season 2
Spoiler: click to toggle
Chapter 1: Now What?
“AAAAAAAAAH!” Hiccup screamed in rage.
He had never had anyone make him look like such a fool. Gods what did the other riders think? Would Hiccup be able to lead them back to victory? Would he be able to lead them at all? Would the riders let him?
“Hiccup,” Astrid started, “what’s our next mo-”
“Back to the Edge” Hiccup interrupted.
“What?” The other riders dismayed.
“Hiccup, we aren’t gonna challenge those Hunters?” Snotlout said dumbfounded.
“What? So they can beat us again and again? No, we need to go back and think EVERYTHING through.” Hiccup told the rider sternly.
“Uh, Hiccup, not to be the downer here, but there’s not much of an Edge to go back to.” Fishlegs meekly stated.
“Then we’ll rebuild it. We go back, and that's FINAL!” Hiccup ordered, ending all other arguments.
The flight back to the Edge was uncomfortable to say the least. Even the twins ceased their fighting to go over what had just happened. Not only were they defeated spectacularly, but Hiccup of all people was mad about it. The level-headed leader of their group, brought to his wit’s end.
They arrived shortly after midnight.
“Aw man, look at how much work we have to do!” Snotlout complained.
“Ok, look, just clean up your huts, and get a good night’s sleep. I think we all need it. We’ll work on rebuilding tomorrow.” Hiccup sighed and took off to his hut.
“Oh boy, you know how long it took the first time? Then with the Rumblehorn attacks, and now this? This place is more work than necessary.” Tuffnut noted.
“Guys,” Astrid began, “Just do what he said. It’s been a long day, especially for Hiccup. We should really try to help him out.”
“Yeah,” Fishlegs agreed, “Hiccup doesn’t seem to be taking this too well. And I need to start work on my rock garden as soon as possible.” To which Fishlegs left on his Gronkle
“Yeah, yeah, you and your relaxation. I’m going to bed, don’t wake me up in the morning.” Snotlout said as he too left.
“Alright, I guess we need to get the Boar pit back in commission.” Ruffnut noted climbing on Barf.
“Oh yeah, and we need to get the boars back too.” Tuff added mounting Belch.
Soon all that was left was Astrid.
“This is bad Stormfly.” She said to her dragon. “Hiccup isn’t gonna let this go. Something is wrong Stormfly, I don’t like it one bit. I guess we’ll have to see what happens tomorrow.”
Back at Hiccup’s Hut
“What a day bud. First I lose the Flightmare, then I lose the Dragon Eye. Now… I’m losing my mind. How could he predict every move without knowing me at all? Am I that predictable?”
He received a knowing growl from his black dragon friend.
“You’re right bud.” He sighed. “I need to sleep it over I guess. I just hope I can figure it out before the situation gets even worse.”
Sleep didn’t come easily to Hiccup that night. One nightmare after another, from being captured and tortured, to losing a certain Dragon Rider for good, plagued the poor dragon rider. One thing was for sure: They wouldn’t go away easily.
Hiccup groaned after waking from another bout, “What am I gonna do?”
He ran his hands across his weary face. “This blows.” He lamented. “I can’t believe I lost and I can’t fix it. This is one of the worst case scenarios.”
He peered over at his sleeping Night Fury.
At least one of us will have their head in the game Hiccup thought.
“I guess I can’t think with no hours of sleep.” He muttered. “Just gotta keep trying.”
As the one legged dragon rider faded into subconsciousness, a black dragon opened one eye carefully.
Toothless could sense Hiccup’s restlessness. He knew the events in the prior hours had done something that disturbed Hiccup greatly. Nothing had made Hiccup more upset before, sure having Astrid go missing affected Hiccup, but this was different. Regardless of what happened, or what will happen, Toothless promised himself that he would stay with Hiccup until the end.
Toothless closed his eye when he heard Hiccup’s breathing slow down. Best they both be well rested. Knowing Hiccup, his plan to fix this would be exhausting to say the least.
Astrid’s Hut
“What a day girl.” Astrid commented to her preening dragon. “I’m worried about Hiccup. These kind of things usually don’t bother him as much. Heck, we even got the Flightmare freed and Heather back, well, freed too I guess.”
Where DID Heather go? Astrid asked herself.
“I guess it doesn’t matter now. Like Hiccup said, we should focus on rebuilding the Edge. As long as those Hunters don’t have the key, the Dragon Eye is useless.”
Something wasn’t right though. Why did this bother Hiccup so much after all? He had lost plenty of times, but he always fixed it. Like Astrid said earlier, Hiccup had his friends to help clean up his messes. And it was no different this time. All of the riders were here at the Edge, and could fly out at the command of one brilliant Rider.
“I just wish he wouldn’t take it so hard Stormfly. He just thinks that we all cast him aside for everything he does wrong, but we don’t. I don’t. We need to make sure Hiccup knows this. I want him to know how much we need him around.”
Deep inside, Astrid wanted Hiccup to know how much she needed him, but she could never bring herself to say that. She had been born and trained as a warrior. Warriors didn’t feel emotions that didn’t help them fight, even if the only that helped were anger and rage.
Astrid needed a plan to get Hiccup back in his head. Something that would get Hiccup out of the dumps for sure.
Astrid gasped in excitement, “That’s it! I have a plan Stormfly….” but her dragon was already asleep.
It’ll work, but only if I can get those mutton heads to listen to me. Astrid thought. Well, there’s no use dwelling on it if I’m too tired to even think tomorrow.
“We got an early day tomorrow Stormfly. Let’s get some shut-eye.” Astrid told her dragon as she blew out her candle.
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“Alright gang, the Dragon Hunter’s Island is just up ahead. Remember, out of sight and we dive in from above.” Hiccup explained.
“Blah blah blah, Let’s go already!” Snotlout said impatiently.
“Take it easy Snotlout, you know our track record against the Hunters.” Astrid reminded.
The Dragon riders remained at an altitude where they couldn’t be spotted from the ground until they finally reached the island.
“Here we are gang. Now when we go in, we’re gonna look for Viggo’s tent, then take out the surrounding sentries. That should buy Toothless and me some time to search for the Dragon Eye. If it’s not there, we leave as quickly as we came in, NO screwing around.” Hiccup ordered.
“Come on, can’t we blow up more stuff?” Tuffnut begged.
“Tuff, the longer we stay, the more chance they have of taking you out. You all know how easy they can knock out your dragon. But when we fly in, I will allow minor destruction for maximum distraction.” Hiccup stated.
“At least he’s letting some blasting go this time.” Ruffnut accepted.
“Ok guys, it’s time. Remember, fast in, fast out, and PLEASE don’t take unnecessary risks.” Hiccup reminded.
The riders began their power dives one by one under the cover of night, with Hiccup following last due to Toothless’ incredible dive bombing ability. Even with the aerodynamic capabilities of the dragons, it still took a couple of seconds before they broke the cloud cover onto the Hunter Base. Each rider took a separate direction from the center, shooting off as many fireballs as they could to clear a way for Hiccup. When Hiccup arrived, there was a ring of fire around Viggo’s tent.
Wow, this is working WAY better than I thought it would. Hiccup thought.
As he descended upon the tent, Hiccup took one last glance at his surroundings. Chaos was the scene for sure, with Hunters firing blindly into the sky. Thanks to the time of the attack, and the speed of all their dragons, no one was hitting their mark, except for the riders.
Now it’s my turn.
Hiccup landed and ran into the center tent with Toothless following. No one was there to greet him, to Hiccup’s surprise.
“Well, no welcoming party makes our jobs easier.” Hiccup remarked to Toothless.
He began the search for the Dragon Eye, checking desk drawers, shelves, chests, and random piles altogether, but to no avail.
“It’s gotta be in here somewhere bud.”
But nothing was found. Even in his diligence, Hiccup knew when it was time to go, but something wasn’t right. He had subconsciously blocked out the sound of explosions to focus on his search inside the tent, but now that he listened closely: nothing.
Oh no. Hiccup worried, They’ve been captured.
Hiccup got on Toothless preemptively, ready to fly straight through the roof and blast his way off of the island.
“Get ready for a fight bud. This won’t be easy.” Hiccup warned his scaly companion.
“Hiccup Haddock, if I were you, I’d come out nice and slow.” A gruff voice commanded.
Here we go. Hiccup prepared himself as Toothless walked out of the tent with Hiccup on his back.
But nothing could prepare Hiccup for the horrors that laid in front of him. Dragons, dead on the ground, filled with arrows. Riders sliced open, bleeding out near their deceased steeds.
“You see my dear boy, I figured your dragons wouldn’t listen to me even if I did get them. So I thought, let’s not waste all of our Dragonroot arrows and just go back to the old ways.” A smoother, more sinister voice explained.
“Viggo… Ryker… How could you…” Hiccup choked out.
Hiccup couldn’t believe his eyes. He had seen the casualties of war during dragon raids, but never had he been so affected by the sight of gore. Hiccup felt like passing out, if it weren’t for a feeling of rage brewing in his stomach.
“Oh Hiccup, you must learn that people are expendable. What better way than to see your team destroyed right before your eyes?”
“This isn’t… We never wanted-” Hiccup began
“No one ever wants to lose,” Viggo interrupted, “Some just have to take their loses, and make something of it. Now, your team lay dead at your feet, but this is the after results. How do you deal with losing them right before your eyes?”
No
Ryker pulled a blonde haired Viking from behind him. She was bound and gagged and bruised and bloodied and crying.
“No…” Hiccup muttered.
“Watch closely brother.” Viggo directed at Ryker as he pulled out a dagger. “We are about to see a transformation in the young chief.”
“Please don’t” Hiccup begged, tears brimming at his eyes.
“Oh my dear Hiccup, pleading gets you nowhere in life.” Viggo commented striding over to the girl.
“Viggo, don’t do this to her, I… I love her!” Hiccup confessed.
“And that’s another thing!” Viggo snapped, placing his dagger at her throat. “People are expendable, I’ve told you that many times, but the one thing I haven’t told you is this: There is no place in this world for love.”
The next moments appeared in slow motion to Hiccup. He could see Viggo’s arm muscle begin to tense. Hiccup could only reach out his hand uselessly and cry for the one he loved as Viggo’s arm began to move. He could see the fear in her eyes as the blade made contact with her neck and then…
“AH! what the?” Hiccup screamed. He was breathing heavily and sweating profusely, but no longer in the hell that was in his head. Just in a hut at a wrecked island.
It was still dark out. The sun was still at least 3 hours away, but Hiccup did not want to go back to sleep.
“Well, guess it’s time to start the day.” Hiccup muttered.
It was definitely the worst sleep he’d ever had, but he had never been more thankful that it was all just a nightmare.
“AAAAAAAAAH!” Hiccup screamed in rage.
He had never had anyone make him look like such a fool. Gods what did the other riders think? Would Hiccup be able to lead them back to victory? Would he be able to lead them at all? Would the riders let him?
“Hiccup,” Astrid started, “what’s our next mo-”
“Back to the Edge” Hiccup interrupted.
“What?” The other riders dismayed.
“Hiccup, we aren’t gonna challenge those Hunters?” Snotlout said dumbfounded.
“What? So they can beat us again and again? No, we need to go back and think EVERYTHING through.” Hiccup told the rider sternly.
“Uh, Hiccup, not to be the downer here, but there’s not much of an Edge to go back to.” Fishlegs meekly stated.
“Then we’ll rebuild it. We go back, and that's FINAL!” Hiccup ordered, ending all other arguments.
The flight back to the Edge was uncomfortable to say the least. Even the twins ceased their fighting to go over what had just happened. Not only were they defeated spectacularly, but Hiccup of all people was mad about it. The level-headed leader of their group, brought to his wit’s end.
They arrived shortly after midnight.
“Aw man, look at how much work we have to do!” Snotlout complained.
“Ok, look, just clean up your huts, and get a good night’s sleep. I think we all need it. We’ll work on rebuilding tomorrow.” Hiccup sighed and took off to his hut.
“Oh boy, you know how long it took the first time? Then with the Rumblehorn attacks, and now this? This place is more work than necessary.” Tuffnut noted.
“Guys,” Astrid began, “Just do what he said. It’s been a long day, especially for Hiccup. We should really try to help him out.”
“Yeah,” Fishlegs agreed, “Hiccup doesn’t seem to be taking this too well. And I need to start work on my rock garden as soon as possible.” To which Fishlegs left on his Gronkle
“Yeah, yeah, you and your relaxation. I’m going to bed, don’t wake me up in the morning.” Snotlout said as he too left.
“Alright, I guess we need to get the Boar pit back in commission.” Ruffnut noted climbing on Barf.
“Oh yeah, and we need to get the boars back too.” Tuff added mounting Belch.
Soon all that was left was Astrid.
“This is bad Stormfly.” She said to her dragon. “Hiccup isn’t gonna let this go. Something is wrong Stormfly, I don’t like it one bit. I guess we’ll have to see what happens tomorrow.”
Back at Hiccup’s Hut
“What a day bud. First I lose the Flightmare, then I lose the Dragon Eye. Now… I’m losing my mind. How could he predict every move without knowing me at all? Am I that predictable?”
He received a knowing growl from his black dragon friend.
“You’re right bud.” He sighed. “I need to sleep it over I guess. I just hope I can figure it out before the situation gets even worse.”
Sleep didn’t come easily to Hiccup that night. One nightmare after another, from being captured and tortured, to losing a certain Dragon Rider for good, plagued the poor dragon rider. One thing was for sure: They wouldn’t go away easily.
Hiccup groaned after waking from another bout, “What am I gonna do?”
He ran his hands across his weary face. “This blows.” He lamented. “I can’t believe I lost and I can’t fix it. This is one of the worst case scenarios.”
He peered over at his sleeping Night Fury.
At least one of us will have their head in the game Hiccup thought.
“I guess I can’t think with no hours of sleep.” He muttered. “Just gotta keep trying.”
As the one legged dragon rider faded into subconsciousness, a black dragon opened one eye carefully.
Toothless could sense Hiccup’s restlessness. He knew the events in the prior hours had done something that disturbed Hiccup greatly. Nothing had made Hiccup more upset before, sure having Astrid go missing affected Hiccup, but this was different. Regardless of what happened, or what will happen, Toothless promised himself that he would stay with Hiccup until the end.
Toothless closed his eye when he heard Hiccup’s breathing slow down. Best they both be well rested. Knowing Hiccup, his plan to fix this would be exhausting to say the least.
Astrid’s Hut
“What a day girl.” Astrid commented to her preening dragon. “I’m worried about Hiccup. These kind of things usually don’t bother him as much. Heck, we even got the Flightmare freed and Heather back, well, freed too I guess.”
Where DID Heather go? Astrid asked herself.
“I guess it doesn’t matter now. Like Hiccup said, we should focus on rebuilding the Edge. As long as those Hunters don’t have the key, the Dragon Eye is useless.”
Something wasn’t right though. Why did this bother Hiccup so much after all? He had lost plenty of times, but he always fixed it. Like Astrid said earlier, Hiccup had his friends to help clean up his messes. And it was no different this time. All of the riders were here at the Edge, and could fly out at the command of one brilliant Rider.
“I just wish he wouldn’t take it so hard Stormfly. He just thinks that we all cast him aside for everything he does wrong, but we don’t. I don’t. We need to make sure Hiccup knows this. I want him to know how much we need him around.”
Deep inside, Astrid wanted Hiccup to know how much she needed him, but she could never bring herself to say that. She had been born and trained as a warrior. Warriors didn’t feel emotions that didn’t help them fight, even if the only that helped were anger and rage.
Astrid needed a plan to get Hiccup back in his head. Something that would get Hiccup out of the dumps for sure.
Astrid gasped in excitement, “That’s it! I have a plan Stormfly….” but her dragon was already asleep.
It’ll work, but only if I can get those mutton heads to listen to me. Astrid thought. Well, there’s no use dwelling on it if I’m too tired to even think tomorrow.
“We got an early day tomorrow Stormfly. Let’s get some shut-eye.” Astrid told her dragon as she blew out her candle.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Alright gang, the Dragon Hunter’s Island is just up ahead. Remember, out of sight and we dive in from above.” Hiccup explained.
“Blah blah blah, Let’s go already!” Snotlout said impatiently.
“Take it easy Snotlout, you know our track record against the Hunters.” Astrid reminded.
The Dragon riders remained at an altitude where they couldn’t be spotted from the ground until they finally reached the island.
“Here we are gang. Now when we go in, we’re gonna look for Viggo’s tent, then take out the surrounding sentries. That should buy Toothless and me some time to search for the Dragon Eye. If it’s not there, we leave as quickly as we came in, NO screwing around.” Hiccup ordered.
“Come on, can’t we blow up more stuff?” Tuffnut begged.
“Tuff, the longer we stay, the more chance they have of taking you out. You all know how easy they can knock out your dragon. But when we fly in, I will allow minor destruction for maximum distraction.” Hiccup stated.
“At least he’s letting some blasting go this time.” Ruffnut accepted.
“Ok guys, it’s time. Remember, fast in, fast out, and PLEASE don’t take unnecessary risks.” Hiccup reminded.
The riders began their power dives one by one under the cover of night, with Hiccup following last due to Toothless’ incredible dive bombing ability. Even with the aerodynamic capabilities of the dragons, it still took a couple of seconds before they broke the cloud cover onto the Hunter Base. Each rider took a separate direction from the center, shooting off as many fireballs as they could to clear a way for Hiccup. When Hiccup arrived, there was a ring of fire around Viggo’s tent.
Wow, this is working WAY better than I thought it would. Hiccup thought.
As he descended upon the tent, Hiccup took one last glance at his surroundings. Chaos was the scene for sure, with Hunters firing blindly into the sky. Thanks to the time of the attack, and the speed of all their dragons, no one was hitting their mark, except for the riders.
Now it’s my turn.
Hiccup landed and ran into the center tent with Toothless following. No one was there to greet him, to Hiccup’s surprise.
“Well, no welcoming party makes our jobs easier.” Hiccup remarked to Toothless.
He began the search for the Dragon Eye, checking desk drawers, shelves, chests, and random piles altogether, but to no avail.
“It’s gotta be in here somewhere bud.”
But nothing was found. Even in his diligence, Hiccup knew when it was time to go, but something wasn’t right. He had subconsciously blocked out the sound of explosions to focus on his search inside the tent, but now that he listened closely: nothing.
Oh no. Hiccup worried, They’ve been captured.
Hiccup got on Toothless preemptively, ready to fly straight through the roof and blast his way off of the island.
“Get ready for a fight bud. This won’t be easy.” Hiccup warned his scaly companion.
“Hiccup Haddock, if I were you, I’d come out nice and slow.” A gruff voice commanded.
Here we go. Hiccup prepared himself as Toothless walked out of the tent with Hiccup on his back.
But nothing could prepare Hiccup for the horrors that laid in front of him. Dragons, dead on the ground, filled with arrows. Riders sliced open, bleeding out near their deceased steeds.
“You see my dear boy, I figured your dragons wouldn’t listen to me even if I did get them. So I thought, let’s not waste all of our Dragonroot arrows and just go back to the old ways.” A smoother, more sinister voice explained.
“Viggo… Ryker… How could you…” Hiccup choked out.
Hiccup couldn’t believe his eyes. He had seen the casualties of war during dragon raids, but never had he been so affected by the sight of gore. Hiccup felt like passing out, if it weren’t for a feeling of rage brewing in his stomach.
“Oh Hiccup, you must learn that people are expendable. What better way than to see your team destroyed right before your eyes?”
“This isn’t… We never wanted-” Hiccup began
“No one ever wants to lose,” Viggo interrupted, “Some just have to take their loses, and make something of it. Now, your team lay dead at your feet, but this is the after results. How do you deal with losing them right before your eyes?”
No
Ryker pulled a blonde haired Viking from behind him. She was bound and gagged and bruised and bloodied and crying.
“No…” Hiccup muttered.
“Watch closely brother.” Viggo directed at Ryker as he pulled out a dagger. “We are about to see a transformation in the young chief.”
“Please don’t” Hiccup begged, tears brimming at his eyes.
“Oh my dear Hiccup, pleading gets you nowhere in life.” Viggo commented striding over to the girl.
“Viggo, don’t do this to her, I… I love her!” Hiccup confessed.
“And that’s another thing!” Viggo snapped, placing his dagger at her throat. “People are expendable, I’ve told you that many times, but the one thing I haven’t told you is this: There is no place in this world for love.”
The next moments appeared in slow motion to Hiccup. He could see Viggo’s arm muscle begin to tense. Hiccup could only reach out his hand uselessly and cry for the one he loved as Viggo’s arm began to move. He could see the fear in her eyes as the blade made contact with her neck and then…
“AH! what the?” Hiccup screamed. He was breathing heavily and sweating profusely, but no longer in the hell that was in his head. Just in a hut at a wrecked island.
It was still dark out. The sun was still at least 3 hours away, but Hiccup did not want to go back to sleep.
“Well, guess it’s time to start the day.” Hiccup muttered.
It was definitely the worst sleep he’d ever had, but he had never been more thankful that it was all just a nightmare.
It seriously is not fun. >:P But you are a good writer, keep it up! 
At least I don't swear as much as one.