章節 13: Chapter 13: Rescue

It's been a few weeks since Hiccup and the gang got along. Hiccup's behaviour around them seemed to improve. Snotlout and the twins helped him however they could to earn his trust. After spending so many days with Hiccup Astrid began to have this strange feeling around him. They were already good friends but this feeling that she was feeling was something entirely different. She would often sneak glances of the said Dragon rider and sometimes would find him staring at her. Hiccup would immediately look away from her whenever she caught him staring. Astrid found it flattering.

Hiccup was trying to work on a sword but his thoughts kept distracting him. He was getting distracted by his thoughts. For the past few days he has been thinking about Astrid. He always had a crush on her but never got the chance to make a move. Hiccup put the sword back in the forge to bring up it's temperature. He backed away from the forge as the memory of Astrid kissing him on his cheek rushed back to his mind. Hiccup smiled as he closed his eyes and touched the place on his cheek where Astrid kissed. After some time Hiccup pulled the sword out of the forge and dipped it in a barrel full of oil. After sometime he pulled it out of the barrel and checked for warps and any other kind of problems. Once satisfied with the sword he put it on a table and decided to take a break. He stepped out of the forge and was looking around when he spotted Astrid coming towards him.

"Hey Astrid." Hiccup greeted her.

"Hey!" Astrid greeted him back.

"So, What brings you here?"

"Oh, nothing. Thought I would just hang out with you for a while. Hope you won't mind."

Hiccup's face lit up as Astrid said that.

"Sure. I don't mind at all." He quickly said.

Astrid giggled at his enthusiasm, making Hiccup smile as well. But the moment was interrupted when they heard a squeak. They looked up and saw a Terrible terror flying towards them. Hiccup raised his arm and the Terror landed on his arm. The Terror had something wrapped around its neck. Hiccup took it off and it turned out to be rolled paper. The Terror squaked and flew away.

"What was that?" Astrid asked Hiccup.

"That Terror was delivering this letter to me." Hiccup said, showing her the rolled paper. Seeing that Astrid was still confused he said,"It's called Terror mail. It's a system I and my allies use to send each other letters."

"You have allies!?" Astrid asked, shocked.

"Astrid, you don't become a legendary Dragon rider and spend five years without making allies." Hiccup told her as he unrolled the paper.

But after reading the contents of the paper he became serious.

"What happened, Hiccup?" Astrid asked, feeling concerned.

"Nothing. I have some important work to take care of." Hiccup said as he began walking away.

"Astrid, you're in charge! Make sure the twins don't cause Chaos and Snotlout doesn't get eaten!" Hiccup yelled out as he ran towards his house, leaving a very confused Astrid behind.

Hiccup ran in his house and after making sure that no-one was inside, he opened a secret door leading to a basement. Hiccup rushed inside the basement. It was the place where he kept his weapons and armours. Hiccup put on his armour and took his weapons and rushed out of the house with Toothless's saddle.

(A/N:- The armour Hiccup is using in here is the armour used by Hiccup in Httyd 3 with a Nightfury-scale cloak. The helmet doesn't has the spikes.)

He crossed the stream and made his way towards Toothless's cave. Once he reached there he called out for his Dragon. Toothless and Luna came out of the cave and stood in front of Hiccup.

"Toothless, we've got some work to do." Hiccup hurriedly told Toothless.

Toothless looked at Luna and she gave him a nod. Toothless looked back at Hiccup with determination and said,"Then what are we waiting for brother. Let's go!"

Hiccup then put on the saddle Toothless's back and mounted him. Luna looked at them and said,"Be safe you two!"

"Don't worry Luna!" Toothless said.

"We will be fine." Hiccup reassured her and then the Dragon-human duo launched in the sky and flew towards some unknown destination.

(A long while later)

It was nighttime. Toothless was soaring over the clouds. Hiccup was looking down at the sea, trying to spot something. After a while he noticed something. It was a big ship.

"Finally found it." Hiccup mumbled and motioned Toothless to go down.

Toothless followed his instructions and began lowering himself. Both the Dragon and his Rider were camouflaged in the dark sky. They both successfully made their way to the ship and landed on the deck. On the deck, their were many cages containing Dragons. Hiccup frowned as he looked around.

"There are more than I was expecting." Hiccup mumbled.

"Then let's get started before anyone spots us." Toothless told Hiccup as he looked around.

Hiccup went over to the nearest cage. There were three Snifflehunch inside it. All of them were muzzled to prevent them from shooting fire. The Dragons noticed Hiccup and they backed away a bit. Hiccup slides his hand inside the cage through the gaps between the metal bars and showed them his palm. The Dragons looked doubtful at first but then one of them came forward and pressed it's snout against his palm. The other two Dragons do the same after the first one pulls away. After that Hiccup quickly opened the cage and took off the muzzles and told the Dragons the location of his island. The Dragons flew away towards the island and Hiccup went over to the other cage while Toothless covered him while staying hidden. Hiccup unlocked more of the cages while hiding from the people guarding the ship.

He was unlocking another one when suddenly someone barked out,"Who are ya!?"

Hiccup turned around and saw there were four big bulky men standing a few feet away from him. They were armed with spears and had other weapons on them. One of them was holding a lantern in one hand. He came forward intending to threaten and interogate Hiccup but as the reached close Hiccup quickly punched the guy. The lantern flew away from that guys hand and dropped on the floor and broke as fire spreaded on the wooden floor. Before the guy could regain his balance Hiccup caught him by his neck and threw him at the cage, knocking him out. Two of the remaining guards ran towards him with their spears raised but just then Toothless came out of his hiding and rammed into them, knocking both of them out. The remaining guard ran away, screaming. This alerted the other guards. Knowing they're in trouble Hiccup decided to change the plan.

"Time for plan B. Toothless, free the Dragons. I will keep them busy." Hiccup told Toothless.

Toothless gave a nod and then shot a plasma blast at the cage Hiccup was trying to open. The blast destroyed the front part of the cage, enabling Dragons to fly away with the ones that escaped before them. Toothless went over to the other cages as Hiccup walked towards the other side of the deck. On his way Hiccup came across a group of guards. They were all armed with axes, swords and maces. Hiccup quickly pulled out something from his suit. In both of his hands were something that looked like the handle of a sword. The guards laughed as they saw it. Hiccup then pressed a button on both of the handles and a flaming blade popped out of both of the handles. Hiccup got in a stance, holding one sword over his head and other one in front of him.

Hiccup's P.O.V

I smirked under my mask as I watched their shocked expression. The weapon I am holding is called 'Inferno'. It's an invention of mine and my primary weapon. Over time I built multiple copies of it and began dual wielding two of them. One of the guards came forward, attempting to strike me with his sword. But I blocked the hit with both of my swords and pushed him away as I kicked him in his stomach, making him fall on the floor. Two more ran towards me with their axes and swords. I dodged the axe swing and deflected the sword hit with Inferno. I quickly did a spinning hook kick which hit the sword wielder, throwing him towards a nearby cage. The other guy tried to strike me with his axe again but I stepped aside and dodged the blow. Before he could bring up his axe again I cut off the axe head with my sword. Before the guard could comprehend what just happened I swung my sword at him. He wasn't fast enough to avoid it and got slashed across his chest. The guard backed away screaming as I kicked him onto the floor. The other guard suddenly came, trying to strike me with his sword but I blocked it and stepped aside and slashed him across his side. The man yelled out in pain as I kicked behind his knee, dropping him on the floor and hit him behind his head, knocking him out.

Suddenly someone caught me in a choke hold from behind. I quickly stabbed that person in the thigh. He let out a scream as his grip loosened. I quickly break free of the hold. Turning around I quickly delivered two slashes on his chest and then knocked him out with a punch. I then heard a battlecry and looked at my right side and saw another guard charging at me with his sword. He swung his sword. I tried to dodge it but wasn't fast enough as the sword cut through my armor and made a nasty wound on my right side. It had reopened the wound Stoick gave me during my duel with him. The wound was almost healed thanks to the medicines I have, but that injury reopened it. I quickly spun around and swung my sword at his arm and injured it, making him let go of the sword and used my other sword to quickly deliver a slash across his chest. I then did a quick spin and delivered two more slashes in his body, making him fall on the floor in pain. I then stomped on his head which knocked him out.

I looked forward and saw some more men approaching me but suddenly a purple light hit the floor in front of them and exploded. The blast threw them back. I looked up and saw Toothless hovering over me. He landed near me and said,"Come on Hiccup! We don't have much time!"

I nodded. I turned off one Inferno and put it back in it's holster and pulled out some bandages from the hidden pocket in my armour. I hurriedly shoved the bandage under my armour to cover the wound and stopped it from bleeding. After I was done I and Toothless made our way towards the other cages. The guards tried to stop us but didn't stand a chance against me and Toothless. We kept freeing the Dragons while fighting off the guards. Toothless would blast them away or fight with his claws and tail. As for me I fought with them with my swords. After some time there was only one cage left. By this time both me and Toothless were injured and exhausted. Toothless had some cuts on his arms and some bruises, while I had received another but on my left bicep, just above my tattoo and was shot in the shoulder with an arrow. I went over to the cage to open it while Toothless covered me. Someone had thrown a net on Toothless and had sealed his mouth with a bola.

"Toothless!" I screamed out and tried to run over to him but Just then I was tackled by a guard. He pulled out his sword and proceeded to kill me. But just then we heard a loud Dragon roar and he was snatched away by a Dragon. Not just any Dragon, a Storm cutter Dragon. I looked towards Toothless and saw the men who had trapped Toothless were fighting a masked figure.

"The Storm-cutter rider." The thought rang through my mind. He or she is a mysterious person I met a couple years ago during a Dragon rescue mission. Ever since then I have seen this person on some other rescue missions too. This person is also a Dragon rider and rides a Storm-cutter. We never had a conversation, because they always disappear with their Storm-cutter. The Storm-cutter rider easily defeated those men with their staff and raised their staff in the air.

"Hey!" I yelled out to gain their attention and hastily got up and ran towards that person. But before I could reach them the Storm-cutter came and snatched that person and flew away in the night sky.

I just saw them for a while before turning my attention back to Toothless. I quickly freed him and together we freed the last Dragons. I then noticed one of the men regaining his consciousness. I stormed over to him and grabbed him by his throat and took him over to the side of the ship, where I pinned him. I pulled out Inferno and activated it. Holding the blade close to his face I said,"I will only ask once, so answer me truthfully. And then I may spare your life. Where is Drago?"

The man fearfully looked at me and said he didn't know about Drago.

"STOP LYING TO ME! WHERE IS HE!?" I shouted at him, holding the blade of the Inferno closer to his face.

"Please! Please! I swear upon my dead mother I don't know where he is." The man said fearfully.

"Then what use are you to me?" I coldly said and threw him on the floor.

"Please! Have mercy!" The man pleaded while trying to crawl away.

Memories of the past came flooding back in my mind as I felt my hatred increase for that man.

"Sorry. All out of mercy." I coldly told him and then slit his throat.

I watched the man die. People like him deserved to die. Especially after what they did to her.

"Hiccup." Toothless called out.

This brought me out of my trance.

"Let's go." I told him as I hoped on his back. Toothless shot up in the air. Before leaving, Toothless shot a few plasma blasts at the ship, which put it on fire. I glanced at the burning ship once before looking away.