Chapter Text
"Take them," Ryker said to someone behind Hiccup. Arms wrapped around him and he remembered at the last second to react like his arm was still broken with a sharp yelp. "Shut up!" Ryker snapped. He was still holding Astrid by the hair.
"Want me to tie 'em up?" the hunter holding Hiccup asked.
"No time. Come on." Ryker shifted to drag Astrid along with a hand bunched in the fabric of her tunic between her shoulders. Hiccup's captor drew a knife and prodded him along, one hand around his left arm. Hiccup held his right arm close to his chest, praying that Ryker hadn't heard Astrid say his arm had healed.
They were being dragged along to part of the camp Hiccup didn't recognize; the shipyard, it seemed. This base even had a ship-building workshop. Ryker and his hunter brought their prisoners into the half-finished hull of a ship that seemed to be an abandoned project. Cobwebs hung in places, but it seemed that it was being lived in.
"Tie them and get back to your post," Ryker ordered. "Report to me as soon as Viggo figures out they're gone." The hunter obeyed, binding Astrid's wrists in front of her and Hiccup's behind him. He smirked as Hiccup faked agony at his arm being mishandled. Then he was gone, and the two were left in Ryker's presence.
Ryker looked terrible. Hiccup hadn't seen him since he'd dragged him into the crowd of hunters to teach him a lesson. Viggo had said he'd punished Ryker, and... he certainly had.
A fresh scar decorated the right side of his head, and part of his ear was missing. Florid bruising was healing on his face and he seemed to be missing a tooth or two when he leered at them.
"This isn't a good idea, Ryker," Hiccup said. "When Viggo finds out--"
"I don't care if Viggo finds out," Ryker said. "What kind of brother could do this to his own flesh and blood?" He snorted. "Over you, of all things."
"He's not a thing!" Astrid snapped.
"He's a monster," Ryker shot back. "And monsters deserve death." He laughed. "Not til moonrise, though. I like killing dragons." He shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe after I kill him, he'll turn human again!"
"You're not going to find out," Astrid growled, but something had caught Ryker's attention. He frowned and leaned forward. Hiccup had a feeling he knew what that was about and tried to turn, but Ryker reached out and grabbed his hair.
Hiccup hissed in pain but Ryker was much too interested in what he had just noticed: Hiccup's eyes. "You really are a monster!" he said, sounding almost impressed.
"Let go of me," Hiccup snapped.
Ryker did, shoving him back against the hull. "I'll be back at moonrise," he said. "Just so you don't get any ideas..." he grabbed another length of rope and shoved Astrid to sit closer to Hiccup and wound the rope around their necks before tying it off. He laughed at his own handiwork and left them.
"We have to get out of here," Hiccup said instantly.
"No, I was thinking we should stay." Astrid was wriggling at her ropes. They were thin and bit into their wrists, and she was eyeing them speculatively. "How sharp do you think my teeth are?"
"Not as sharp as mine."
"You don't currently have fangs, Hiccup." She raised her wrists and took a test nibble. "Eurgh. They taste like tar. Oh well, here we go."
"Can you try and undo the one on our necks?" Hiccup asked.
"Gnhh," Astrid answered, mouth full of ropes.
"Just asking."
It took at least ten minutes of solid gnawing, but Astrid managed to snap about half her ropes. The rest were easy enough to break with a quick downward striking motion.
"I'd rather cut the rest of the ropes," she said. "Do you see any weapons?"
"There's an old spear over there," Hiccup said, pointing with a foot. "Can you get to it without strangling us?"
"We're about to find out." Astrid twisted and stretched until her foot knocked the spear down and it fell within grabbing range. She carefully broke the rope around their necks with it and knelt behind Hiccup to free him.
"We should get out of here," Hiccup repeated. "We can't actually escape until moonrise, but Ryker won't let me get out after I transform."
"Viggo won't either, if he catches us," Astrid said. "We have to find somewhere to hide til night."
The shipyard was heavily patrolled, however, and they couldn't even make it out of the area where the old ship lay. Too many guards passed their temporary hiding spot, and in the end, they retreated to the hull and crept along it to a shadowy portion and hid behind some old barrels.
"This'll have to do," Astrid grumbled. "If they come back to check on us, they might leave this area alone to search everywhere else, then we can slip out."
"We'll stay for now," Hiccup said, settling in against the wall. He took Astrid's hand. "I can't wait to go home."
"How long have we been here?" Astrid asked. "I've... kind of lost count."
Hiccup closed his eyes and calculated, tallying up days and nights. "Uh... fourteen or fifteen days, I think."
"That short?" Astrid groaned. "I was going to say at least a month."
"Every day's been like two," Hiccup agreed. "When we get back we're sleeping for a week." He winced. "I wish you didn't have to stay up almost all the time."
"I wanted to," Astrid said immediately. "I needed to protect you, and you would have done the same for me."
"I want to do the same for you," Hiccup said. "Ha. Fire-breathing dragon, and you're the one on guard."
"Yup," she said. "Someone has to keep you out of trouble."
"Will you try and get some sleep now?" Hiccup asked. "There's hours til night."
"Fine." Astrid shifted to lean against him and closed her eyes. "Wake me up if anything happens."
Hiccup nodded, then let his head rest against the wall. He wanted to sleep too, but it was the least he could do to keep watch for a few hours while Astrid caught up on sleep.
They day passed in a very tense way. Hiccup heard Ryker come back an hour or two after he'd left them, curse explosively, then run off. Astrid slept right through it. It sounded like the search was on, but there wasn't an opportunity to slip away yet. They just had to stay put for a little longer, hopefully.
Dusk was approaching outside as Hiccup heard the sounds of the search lessening. He'd been listening the whole time for Ryker returning, or even for Viggo. He was sure Viggo would have been furious, angrier than he'd seen him yet. The thought wasn't comforting. Astrid had woken once or twice and slept again at Hiccup's encouragement.
It was still too light outside to consider transforming. Maybe another hour? Maybe not; the moon was rising when the sun was still up these days. Was it worth slipping outside to check? Angry shouting told him that it probably wasn't.
"And if they're not found and killed, you might well be!" Ryker was bellowing. "It's almost moonrise, you idiots! How have you not found them all day?"
Ah, well, that answered his question. He nudged Astrid until she sat up quickly. "It's okay," he whispered. "Quiet; Ryker's out there. It's almost time."
She nodded, rubbing her eyes. "Thanks for letting me sleep."
"You needed it," Hiccup said. She still looked tired, but alert. "When we get out there, we're going to have to find a spot where I can transform."
"I'll keep them back while you do," Astrid said. "I can grab that spear."
"An old rusty spear?" Hiccup said doubtfully. "Are you sure?"
"Better than nothing," Astrid said, and she was right. "I want to go investigate."
"What? But Ryker's right nearby!"
She glowered. "Okay, maybe I want to teach him a lesson."
"Not safe," Hiccup said. "I'm not much use in this shape if that goes wrong."
"It won't," she said firmly. "But you can come too. It'll only take a second."
There really was no arguing with her, so Hiccup carefully got to his feet and followed her along the hull.
Ryker was consulting a map of the base, his back to their hideout. Another hunter pored over it as well, saying something about guard distribution on the northern edge.
Hiccup wanted to sneak past them and run, but he knew that wasn't happening. Astrid had already picked up the spear, eyes glinting. He tried to ready himself for hand-to-hand combat.
The gods were apparently delighted to give them one last kick in the teeth; Ryker heard Hiccup's prosthetic hit the floor and turned around.
"Oi!" Ryker yelled. He lunged for Astrid and grabbed the spear, pulling it hard and making her stumble off-balance. The other hunter tackled Hiccup and twisted his arms behind his back, nails digging in harshly.
"Got the monster!" the hunter said gleefully. "Should I kill him now?"
"No," Ryker snapped. He yanked on the spear again, but Astrid had dropped it. She tried to regain her footing to dodge out of his way, but Ryker was faster. One hand clamped down hard on the back of her neck and the other grabbed the front of her tunic so he could drag her upright.
"Let her go!" Hiccup cried, squirming under the hunter and ignoring the harsh blow he was dealt for it. "Astrid!" Astrid's eyes were wide and she was scratching at Ryker's hands, but he wasn't letting go.
"Been waiting a long time," Ryker snarled, giving Astrid a shake. "Viggo says not to touch you, but you'll both be dead in ten minutes, so why waste you?" He chuckled as Astrid's struggles increased. "I'll go first. Leif, you want a go?"
"Sure," the hunter on top of Hiccup said. "Viggo doesn't get all the fun, after all!"
"NO!" Hiccup shouted, his voice almost cracking. Astrid's face had gone ashen and he knew she was losing control over her panic. "Ryker, NO!"
"Shut him up," Ryker said. "I want to enjoy this." He dragged Astrid backwards into the darker end of the hull where they'd hidden all day and behind a stack of crates. Hiccup could hear Astrid struggling, Ryker cursing, then a smack that made him made him want to kill. Astrid was panicking now, he could hear her starting to sob.
Fabric tore and Hiccup felt the moon rise.
There weren't many times that Hiccup lost himself to bloodlust, lost control of his emotions, his weapons, himself. However... there were some times where there was no other choice. This was definitely one of them.
The hunter restraining him shouted in alarm as Hiccup started to convulse, then change. Hiccup had never welcomed the agony from a transformation more than he did now; he almost needed it. He roared as he finished his change, not caring that it would bring every guard down on them. He felt feral, truly the monster Ryker claimed he was. But now...
All that mattered was that he got to Astrid.
The hunter was shouting, Ryker was yelling, and underneath it, Astrid had gone silent. He had to get to her. It was easy to take the hunter down, he whipped his tail and the man was thrown against the wall, clutching at the gashes Hiccup's tail had left across his torso and face.
Ryker staggered out of the dark. "Leif-- oh, gods!"
Bad last words, Hiccup thought. Ryker was unarmed. He must have shed his swordbelt. He held up a hand as if that would do anything.
Hiccup lunged. Blood, hot and rich and delicious, filled his mouth. Ryker screamed, but it was almost impossible to hear from inside Hiccup's mouth. Hiccup prayed that his agony was worse than being hit with a dozen dragonroot arrows, worse than a hundred Triple Strykes, worse than the Red Death on top of it all.
He shook his head a few times then flung Ryker against the wall with a horrible wet thud. Hiccup's human side may not have objected, but it certainly grimaced. The man didn't move. Blood pooled under him and the hunter across the hull could only gape in horror.
Hiccup pushed the crates over to one side. Astrid was lying curled on her side, arms clutched tight around herself and head tucked against her chest. Hiccup whined gently and nudged her with his snout. Blood smeared on her as he did.
She opened her eyes. "Hiccup," she whispered. He whined again and licked the hand she extended. He could see that her tunic was torn, but not the shirt underneath. Giving thanks to the gods would have to wait; they had to get out of here.
Hiccup nudged her into sitting up and returned to the entrance. She followed as she tugged her tunic back in order. Ryker's body was cooling against the wall. After a moment, Astrid went over and spat on it.
Outside, hunters were clustering. They'd heard Hiccup's roar and weren't sure whether to charge. Ryker should be there to order them!
Hiccup waited for Astrid to climb up on his neck. She didn't need a saddle. When she was ready, he shot a blast of red fire out at the gathered hunters. They screamed and scattered.
The way in front of him clear, Hiccup galloped out into the open air. The sky was still light but the moon shone down happily. He roared again and spread his wings. For the first time since they'd been captured, he surged skyward.
This was it.