"SUN GET YOUR BUTT UP THIS INSTANT!" 

Sun jolted up from his sleeping mat and was not expecting there to be so much loud noise going on. The residue light Nightstalker's purple plasma blast seeped through the wooden boards of the ship. The human Rider was up in seconds and moved as fast as he could to see what in the name of Thor was going on. Out on the deck was a warzone. Eret's men were sparsely visible between the mob of cloaked invaders. 

"Finally you muttonhead! Get your human butt up and help with this completely one-sided fight!" Nightstalker growled as he came and joined his Rider. Sun was confused and his mind was bleary, but that changed when Nightstalker literally picked his Rider up and placed him in his saddle. 

"What... happened?!" Sun demanded, falling into the normal routine of their fighting style. 

"No idea-" Nightstalker shot a plasma blast. "I just woke up to shouting and started shooting." 

"Greeeaaat... just like a dragon to attack first ask questions later." 

"Not like I can ask questions anyway." 

"Stop your dragon talk and please help fight already!" Eret ordered as he ducked under a swordblade, still sharp despite it being the middle of the night. 

A masked enemy approached the Dragon-Rider duo, a thin, wicked curved sword silently raised. Sun quickly reached down and took his custom "dragonblade", Inferno, and lit the blade coated with Monstrous Nightmare gel. The fire engulfed the metal, bringing light to the darkness surrounding the fighters. Normally an enemy would flee at the sight of Inferno, but this one stayed firm, even tilting his head curiously, as if studying the flaming blade and ignoring the angry Night Fury behind it. 

The lanky enemy shook his head and took a swipe with his sword, and Nightstalker jumped back as Sun went to block. The other's was quick, but sloppy and light. I wonder how old he is... He can barely lift that sword. Sun noted, feeling empathy for the clearly inexperienced fighter. The enemy swung again, and Nightstalker hopped backwards again as the young boy fell forwards, his hood falling off to reveal, like Sun thought, a young, skinny boy not much older than fifteen with a shock of bright red hair.

The boy and Sun stared at each other. Sun's look was one of sympathy and understanding. Nightstalker had mentioned many times of how on Berk Hiccup had been the runt and pressured to do things like try to kill dragons to earn some respect. But rarely the "runts" were the ones likely to kill, human or dragon. The boy in front of them was watching not Sun, but rather his sword alight with flame. The boy's face was one of wonder and amazement. 

"He likes your sword?" Nightstalker tilted his head in confusion.

Sun hesitated in what to do. In a fight, especially one where you're currently on the losing side, you fight like there's no tomorrow. But a foreign yet familiar feeling was keeping him from going at the boy. Sun recognized something within the boy that resonated within himself. 

"I can't kill him... I see myself. Why do I see myself? Why can't I? Why does this feel familiar?" Sun muttered to himself aloud. He pressed a button that made Inferno extinguish itself. The boy glanced around, looking confused

 before his gaze returned to Sun.

Nightstalker tensed underneath Sun as he said that. "Hiccup, this is no place for mercy. We need to keep fighting."

"Just a second, bud. I need to figure this out." Sun slid off the Night Fury's back and slowly approached their young opponent. The boy had the same look of nervous curiosity that felt so very familiar to Sun yet he didn't know why. 

Suddenly the boy turned. There was a much taller, heavier cloaked figure shouting at a foreign language to the boy. He shouted back and pointed to the Rider duo. The boy looked at them and gave them a bright smile, making Sun somehow smile for the briefest moment as well.

But then those smiles turned to horror. The larger enemy had driven his sword straight through the young boy's stomach. Sun and Nightstalker both cried out in their native forms as the sword was slid out from the boy and he crumpled to the ground. Sun dropped to the boy's side in an instant and his pants were immediately stained red from the blood that was gushing out of the wound.

The boy whimpered as he stared at the ruby liquid flooding out of his gut. 

"Can you do something?!" Nightstalker demanded.

"I don't know?! I can try! But, but..." Sun didn't finish his sentence as he simply started to apply pressure to the wound. 

They'd kill their own men for... what? Not fighting? It made no sense to Sun and made his stomach twist. The fighting around him seemed quieter, which could be either a good thing or a horrible thing. 

Nightstalker crooned as the boy's pained noises grew quieter. Sun leaned back and watched as the boy offered a weak, crooked smile.

Before they Rider duo could see what happened next, yells of surprise and shock went up all around them. They looked up just in time to see someone drop a torch into a barrel, then a fireball erupting from said barrel. Nightstalker took no time in jumping to cover the two humans, but that didn't keep the heat from causing Sun to black out as soon as the invisible wave washed over him. 

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That ending was a little awkward but I need to finish this up RIP