Haley and the Dragon Riders

Trust No One

It was a long flight, especially with the extra weight, but we eventually made it. Once back on the Edge, we walked to the stables.

"I can understand Hiccup's mistrust, but, Haley, what compells you to follow his order now that we are alone?" Viggo was clearly annoyed with me as I put him in one of the stables and lingered in the doorway.

"Hiccup told me to lock you up, and I have a cover to maintain. Y'know, if you ever get tired of being the bad guy, you should try theater."

"What are you implying?"

"C'mon, Ryker attacking you and throwing you in that hole? No one's buying it. But you made it look pretty good." I smiled and cocked my head slightly to the side.

"I wish I was merely acting, my dear Haley. Ryker really has abandoned me and taken my men."

"Yeah, right. Whatever you say." I mumbled to myself before looking back up at him." So, what's your plan? Getting captured by Hiccup seems like a setback, so what're you gonna do?"

"I will admit that getting captured wasn't part of the initial plan, but how can one call themselves a master tactician if they don't have a backup plan."

"So you admit there's a plan?" I smirked.

"Of course there is. There's always a plan." He had an evil glint on his eye as he attacked me before I could close the stable door. He stole my Speed Stinger dagger that I had attached to my belt and cut River with it, paralyzing her. Afterwards, he got on top of me and used his body weight to pin me down.

"What the Hel Viggo? Why'd you do that!? I was going to let you leave during the night. Why're you attacking me? Don't tell me you intend to kill me all of a sudden?" I leaned my head back and hit the hard wooden floor as a sharp pain ran across my arm. He had cut me, the venom entering my bloodstream and paralyzing me.

"You are a strange woman, but I must say I'm quite intrigued. Don't fret, I will be back when you least expect it." Viggo stated as he ran for the door.

We were stuck in the stable for hours until Hiccup and the other riders eventually came back. They poured a bit of Flightmare gel on us, and the numbing feeling slowly started to leave my body. Once I as fully able to move again, I got on my feet, stretched, and told them briefly what happened, leaving out anything that could incriminate me, of course.

"He escaped!?" Astrid asked in shock.

"Yeah, sorry, guys. It all happened so fast. Even River couldn't keep up." I lowered my head in shame.

"It's alright, we'll deal with Viggo later. For now, let's find Ryker." Hiccup cheered me up, and we all went out to sea.

"Why did we stop here? There's nothing but ocean?" Snotlout pointed out as we stopped and hovered above the open water.

"If he wants to get to the Edge from Mala's Island, he has to pass through here. It's the only way." Hiccup explained.

"Hunter ship, due south!" Fishlegs called out as a single ship slowly approached us.

We flew down to attack, but upon closer inspection, we were all shocked. It was Ryker, alone on a boat, waving the white flag of surrender.
We flew down to find out what was going on. He explained his version of what happened, but Hiccup wasn't buying it.

"Funny, that's the exact same story Viggo told us. But he said you're the one who flipped."

"There's also no way he could've planned this. He only ran a few hours ago." Tuffnut commented, and Ruffnut punched him in the arm as a response.
"Ow! What'd you do that for? It's true!"