Viggo had kept his word about building up to an escape. Although, you didn't agree with his methods. You didn't expect any sympathy from your captor, but his training was a bit barbaric. He was related to Ryker after all. His training started immediately, and for the first few nights, it was just you and him in the middle of the night sparring with blunt swords. After those few nights, he led you to the dragon's den. You recognized some of them from the attempts of freeing them before you were captured. A white Deadly Nadder sniffed towards where you were when you passed by its cage. It licked through the bars when it noticed you stopped moving as you watched him. The dragon didn't seemed to be fully grown yet or was the runt of his pack.

"I see that you found a dragon already."

The silent night made Viggo's voice more prominent even as he was standing a good distance away from you. Your gaze left the creature in front of you into a puzzled and guarded one when you watched his figure. "If I'm fighting one of them, you can forget about the deal."

"I'm well aware of your moral mindset when it comes to these magnificent beings," he explained, "You're not going to hurt them; you're going to bond with one for our escape."

Oh, that was more of a plausible reason. It made sense since you were on a lone island with nothing but the depths of the sea within sight. Your eyes darted over to the dragon again. Its gaze hasn't changed since you saw it last time, which means it would most likely be more docile than the others that would growl. You approached to it closer. There was almost no change to its behavior except getting a bit more excited. You pushed your hand through the bars and waited for the dragon to lay his snout against your palm. Just like how you planned, he sniffed it first before closing his eyes and laying his complete trust in you. You took a glance at Viggo who walked to your side and looked to be amazed from the small display.

"So this is how the process is done?" he questioned.

You acted like he asked a rhetorical question since you ignored what he said. Instead, you said, "Tell me about him."

"He's a Deadly Nadder," he hesitated before you interrupted.

"I know," you continued, "I mean the history behind this specific one."

"What does the history of a dragon have any relation?" he challenged.

You sighed, having to explain yourself, "In order for our plan to work, he needs to be trained the right away. Nothing needs to be left out for it to work. If there's a slight doubt or hesitation, the bond could snap easily and all we worked hard for would crumble in ruins. But in order for that, any knowledge for past behavior or history is key for a proper bond. Where did you find him? When did you find him?"

He understood from the way he nodded his head, but the look of his face told you had asked the most bizarre thing. "We managed to capture him when he was with his mother. The mother didn't make it, but some of his siblings did. We had already traded them off, and he is the only one left. He hasn't taking a liking to anyone. We should reconsider about it."

"No," you stood firm as you caressed the scales on his head. You felt the vibrations of a purr as you continued, "He hasn't taking a liking to anyone until now. The aggression towards the others could be an advantage, but we have to be cautious that it doesn't get out of control."

He didn't argue, seeing that you knew what you were doing when you walked through the gap of the bars. The white Nadder's tail started to wag just like Stormfly does when Astrid plays with her. He kept nudging your torso and you took the opportunity to hop onto his back. There was a bit of discomfort, but the dragon adjusted well to it when you began soothing it. During the whole time, there wasn't a single noise made from him.

"On top of that," you added from on top of the dragon, "Nadders tend to be more stealthy and this one seems to be more so than average. He's perfect."

From there, Viggo took you out in the middle of the night to see and train Lotus, the white Nadder. He was way more mysterious and mischievous than you had expected but that just added to his stealth behavior. There was a bit of trouble with him trusting Viggo at first but eventually, Lotus understood you and him were on the same team. As time went on, his personality came out more and more. You were just happy that being imprisoned for most of the dragon's life didn't stop him from being free-spirited. You promised yourself that you would set him free once you were given the chance.

Days went by, and it was starting to look ugly. The beatings got worse for wear on your part. Ryker was becoming more aggressive, and his men loved it. They would become more disrespectful towards Viggo as he was slowly losing his grasp on authority. He was right; Ryker is starting his rebellion and the uproar was hard to not notice. Again, he brought his frustrations with him when he visited your cell. He punched and kicked you, sometimes in the same spots and most in different areas of your body. Thanks to Viggo's training, not only were you able to get your strength back, but you were able to anticipate where Ryker would hit from his brother's teachings. You weren't hurting as much as it became more of an ache instead of feeling broken in the aftermath. Eventually, the loudest noise you would make would be a grunt when his fist or boot made contact. Today, there was something holding him back, but he was still angry.

He sat down on the spare chair in the corner of the cell as you laid face down on the ground panting. He leaned forward against his knees as he studied your emotionless face. Your left cheek was bruised and there was blood dripping out from the right corner of your lips. You didn't dare to look directly up into his eyes. Viggo had warned you multiple times that it would only anger him more. Just get down when you can and stay down. Conserve your energy for when you needed it.

"You no longer relieve me from stress like before," Ryker said suddenly.

You kept your breath even to not display any sense of relief or anticipation. He gets a thrill from the smallest signs you show.

"I think it's time to take this to the arena."

You didn't know what to do besides follow his lead as he forcibly picked you up and dragged you out of your cell. You pretended to be weak to see where this would go. He led you outside once more like he did when Hiccup visited, and despite you being outside multiple times during the night, the sun was a welcoming sight. You were still pale but your skin was definitely healthier than how it was before. You were followed by his other men as he dragged and yanked you towards his arena. He tossed you like a rag doll into the pit. You yelped in pain and surprise but quickly brushed it off when you raised your head. Your eyes widen in panic and your breathing hitches. Men in full armor and equipped with real weapons greeted you with wicked grins. There must have at least been ten of them.

"Brother, what is the meaning of this?" you heard. You looked up to see Viggo confronting his brother.

Ryker looked unamused and disappointed with Viggo's questioning, but his stare never left your fearful one. "Seeing if the Viking deserves to live another day," he said obviously.

"You know why she needs to be alive," Viggo excused, "She's the only reason why the riders haven't attacked."

"They are still getting in the way," his brother countered, "I say scrap the deal since they were breaking it first. Your way could only work for long, brother. It's time to try it my way."

Footsteps were approaching you from where you heard the men surround you getting closer. You scanned your surroundings before glancing back up to Viggo. His eyes showed panic and worry, not the usual calm and stoic expression he wore. You knew there was nothing he could do; otherwise, your cover would be blown. Fine, you knew what to do anyways. You turned back towards his henchmen. Their expressions didn't change until they saw the confidence coming from you stance. You weren't proud as you knew the seriousness of this life or death situation. It was going to get ugly, but you were prepared to fight to live another day.

They charged all at once. You dodged, ducked, and rolled, occasionally jumping over one or two. There was only so much dodging you could do, but your stamina was higher than you expected from the huffing and puffing the men were doing. You were running out of breath as well and you could feel your energy draining. Finally, you fought back. The next person who charged, attempted to swing at you with a sword. Grabbing his wrist and twisting it  to the side, you disarmed him and stole his weapon. You kicked him to the side as you readied your stance. The men growled in frustration at your successful attempt to arm yourself. There was ringing and clanking from the collisions of swords and axes. You still had to dodge most attacks but you felt safer with a sword in your hand.

Eventually, you were overwhelmed as more men showed up seeing that being simply outnumbered wasn't enough. One had knocked the sword from your hands and immediately was yanked to the side before you could catch it. One after another grabbed at you and pushed you towards your knees. Your head was shoved down as your arms were held up, making your neck exposed. Your glare raised up towards Ryker's walking figure. He smirked seeing that the fire was never extinguished in your eyes and finally showed its light. You realized he had planned this for you. He grabbed a nearby axe, gripping and tossing it to test the weight.

"I hope you have no regrets," Ryker laughed as he raised the axe above your head.

A familiar whistle echoed throughout the island and got louder as you knew whatever was making that sound came closer. The noise ended when there was an explosion breaking the bars that surrounded the arena. Another one sounded and another explosion went off. The disturbance made Ryker and his men lose their composure and balance, giving you the chance to roll away from their clutches. Grabbing the sword you dropped earlier, you countered an attack from Ryker quickly. The small pause he given you before you were about to be executed gave you all the time you need to recover your energy. You pushed Ryker away before kicking him completely away. This gave you a chance to run away. Before you could leave towards the exit, arms encircled you and lifted you off the ground. You kicked and punched whoever had you, thinking it was one of the hunters.

"Stop! Stop, stop, it's me!"

You adrenaline slowed down as the familiar tuff of brown hair came into view and eventually forest green eyes were looking into yours. You were panting from the panic settling in, but not from the scare you just experienced. "What are you doing here, Hiccup?" you demanded.

"I'm rescuing you," he said as if he stated the obvious.

You noticed you were in front of his saddle while Toothless rode the air. He looked over his shoulder and gurgled at you in a kind greeting. You were a hundred feet in the air with the hunters firing non-stop at you. Your glare went back to the Viking in front of you. "You need to leave. You're ruining our plan," you stated.

"Our," he repeated in question. You didn't respond as you whistled loudly, enough for the whole island to hear. "Who are you talking about?" he called out to you as you stood up. He called you once more in panic as you jumped off and plummeted towards the ground. He and Toothless followed you , but before they could reached you, something bright flashed by and swooped you away. They saw you flying down on a Nadder faster than when you were falling. You dodged every arrow that was dipped in dragon root fired at you. You had Lotus pull up so he could swoop by as you reached out for Viggo. He took your hand without hesitation and hopped onto the dragon. Lotus let out his white hot fire a few times before you could past the boarder line of the island. Déjà vu hit you as a net was fired at the last second, but a purple fire disintegrated it before it could reach you. When you relaxed into a glide, Hiccup followed suit beside you. He was upset from the looks of it. He was shocked and guarded, "Viggo? You planned to escape with Viggo?"

"I'm alive because of Viggo, believe it or not," you sighed, "Right now, let's find somewhere to land before I can explain."

The ride was awkward to say the least. You would think from the months of being separated from Hiccup, you would be joyous and relieved, but the constant glare to the man behind you was becoming intense. Maybe if Viggo wasn't there, it would be different, but you had agreed to free yourself along with him. And unlike the brothers, you kept your word. You and Hiccup must have flown for half a day by now and you found yourself in a daze as you stared at the island you never thought you would see again. The Edge had an orange hue to it from the sun setting but it still looked beautiful from how you remembered it.

The others saw your dragons approaching and met at the landing. Astrid, Heather, Fishlegs, the twins, and Snotlout came out to greet you with their dragons. There were gasps and surprised faces but not a single one smiled when you slid down with Viggo following. Immediately, shackles clamped down on his wrists and he didn't show any signs of resistance. You spoke out in hesitation but the look over his shoulder as he was being led to his cell told you not to even bother. He was expecting this, you told yourself. He might actually be safer being held prisoner here than an ex-commander with the hunters, you told yourself.

When he was out of sight, your eyes scanned over your old friends' faces. They still held the shocked faces but Astrid was one of the first to approach you. You didn't expect to be hugged by her. She can be affectionate when she wants to be, but it felt strange to receive them once again.

"I can't believe it," she whispered, "we thought we would never see you again."

She pulled away when she felt Heather place a hand on her shoulder and gave you a concerned yet relieved look. She hugged you next after she looked over your face, "What did they do to you?"

You looked down almost shameful from your appearance. Would they think any different from before? Would you be the same after all that has happened? Things were going to be different, you knew, you just don't know how different they were going to be.

The girls took a step back as new hands touched you. A pair of rough hands grabbed yours by your sides, making you look up at Hiccup as he shared a small smile. "You have no clue how much I missed you."

Tears started to build up and fall off your stinging cheeks as you silently cried. Hiccup pulled you into his chest as you buried your head into it, feeling safe for the first time in months. All of the walls you built to protect yourself crumbled from the warmth you felt and the realization that you were finally home. Hiccup's hands caressed your hair and your back before he picked you up and brought you into the mess hall to get you more comfortable. The others followed silently as their leader tended to your wounds. Heather had suggested to take care of the dragons as Hiccup busied himself with you.

Once you had calmed down when hiccups remained, Astrid brought you tea as you were asked, "Not that we want to pressure you or anything, but what happened over there?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Fishlegs was angered, "She was nearly tortured to death."

Hiccup called you gently and grabbed everyone's attention, "With the amount of times I had seen you, you looked like you were on the verge of death. What happened between the times I saw you?"

Taking a much needed deep breath, you said, "When I was captured, a wound I had received got infected and I got sick. Around the time you first attempted to rescue me, I was just starting to recover. Viggo was trying to keep me alive and given me medicine I couldn't have until he met with a trader. I was starving, but I couldn't keep my food down with the constant moving on the water."

"You never get sea sick though," Ruffnut commented.

"Apparently, only when I'm sick," you continued, "Just when I was getting better, Hiccup came in to take me. I ended up diving into the sea when I got tangled in a net. I nearly drowned but the hunters pulled me up and took me back where I recovered.

"I managed to survive whatever sickness I was going through and they took me to where their base was at. They had much more eyes everywhere compared to being on that boat. Nothing happened really until Hiccup came to see me. I was still unwell, but I was better off compared to afterwards. Ryker made personal visits to my cell and began beating me just to simply vent. At first, I fought back, but I was beginning to lose hope. Viggo later came to me with a proposition. He said he would help me escape if he would join me."

"Why would one of the bad guys want to help you escape and leave with you?" Snotlout asked, "Couldn't he just have left you there?"

Astrid glared over at him, probably for sounding insensitive. "You stupid—"

"It's okay," you interrupted, "I actually had asked the same thing as well. I thought it was simply a trap to lure you guys in, but that wasn't the case. Viggo never planned to hurt anyone. He was doing it only for the money and protection. The reason why he seemed to be so adamant against us was because there's someone even worse then Ryker himself who's running the shots. He wanted to leave because he was loosing control of his men by Ryker who thinks is more capable of running a village. Viggo only saw disaster striking his men in the future and offered me to flee with him. We discreetly met during the night for the past two weeks training how to fight again, bonding with Lotus, training Lotus, and planning."

Hiccup nodded, letting your words sink in, "Viggo had been sending mail in the middle of the night for the past couple of weeks. They were filled with warnings, but I thought it was a trap as well. He written that you were planning an escape with him soon and instructed us to no longer intervene. As to prove his point, he gave us maps and clues where Ryker was heading to next. It wasn't that I believed him, but I thought he put you in more danger by helping us."

Your mind was racing as pieces of a puzzle was finally fitting together. You added, "Ryker had a sudden change of heart today when he visited me in his cell like he usually did. He looked bored, but he was planning on using me to lure you out I figured. He had me on death row and battle it out with his men until you arrived. I don't know whether his goal was to kill me or not in the end, but I don't think it mattered as long as he had you in his clutches. That was when you came in and saved me. What Ryker wasn't expecting was the extra help I was given from Lotus. Otherwise, I think his plan would have worked."

"Now that we got you back," Heather interrupted the silence that came after you were finished, "What do we do about Viggo?"

"Let's torture him the same way he did to you," Tuffnut suggested as he punched the inside of his other hand.

"There's no need for that," you shook your head, "He has agreed to be compliant as long as we take care of him. He has already filled me in with Ryker's next step on the ride back. I think you should hear him out, Hiccup. He could be the key to turn this war around."

"Fine," he agreed easily as he grazed your arm, "but I need to make sure you eat something before I go."

You shrugged to his request, "Okay, but I'm not too sure if I'll be able to eat much since I had gotten used to eating only once a day."

"A little can go a long ways," Hiccup chuckled before he kissed the side of your head where your temple was at, "It's great to have you back home with us."

"It's great to be back."

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Word Count: 3695

Status: UNEDITED

Would you have done differently?|