Hiccup started to flutter his eyes open, thinking he had just fallen asleep while stargazing with Toothless. However, what confused him was when he looked around, he realized he was surrounded by rocks and rubble. He was unsure of what was happening as he stood up and looked around, noticing that he was in Fang.
"No," Hiccup whispered in shock and horror. He crawled up to his feet and looked around at the environment. There were Druuns and Dragon Hunters shooting at the people as they tried to escape. "This can't be happening," he groaned and held his hip, seeing it was injured. "We stopped this."
"Oh, so you thought," Krogan said, stepping on Hiccup as he fell to his chest. "You lost."
"Hiccup!" Raya groaned, getting Hiccup to look over and see that she was stuck underneath some of the rubble. "Help..."
"Raya..." Hiccup tried his best to get away from Krogan. But he was shoved into the dirt by Krogan as he marched toward Raya. "No... leave her alone!"
Krogan grabbed Raya by the hair and yanked her upward. "Now, why would I want to do that?" He then drew his sword and Raya whimpered in fear. "When I could kill her, and make you watch."
"Hiccup," Raya pleaded in terror. "Help me."
"Hang on! I'll...I'll..." Hiccup whimpered out as he tried to get up.
"Oh, no, you won't," Krogan said as he went to stab Raya.
Hiccup cried out as the blade embedded itself into Raya's back. "No!"
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Hiccup jumped up in shock and terror, looking around to see he was lying against Toothless. The moon indicated it was still some time late at night. He looked over and saw his dragon friend was still sleeping peacefully.
It was just a nightmare. He sighed and stood up so he could look around the area. Rubbing his head, he knew he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep for a while.
"Hiccup?" Toothless got up and noticed he was awake. "Why are you up?"
"I-I just got cold," Hiccup lied, not wanting to get into it right now. He sighed and watched Toothless get up. "Come on, we better get back before someone gets worried about us."
Toothless then lets Hiccup climb on him and they fly back to the castle. Hiccup however couldn't get that dream out of his head, with the worry and thought of Raya's death. Krogan was gone, he had nothing to worry about. He can't hurt any of them, and the Dragon Hunters are nothing more than just people trying their best to stay in business.
As he looked down at the lands of Kumandra from his vantage point high above, he smiled and felt content knowing that everything had turned out so well for them.
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Raya made it to the bridge where she saw that her friends had already made their way over. Boun and his family arrived, but it seemed like he was the only one who left the Shrimp-orium with Scorch. Tong made his way down while riding Steel.
"Hey." Boun greeted as he jumped off Scorch. "We got your message."
Tong then got off of Steel and patted her on the head. "Yes, you summoned us for something urgent, didn't you?"
Raya sheepishly hesitated in her voice. "Well... depends on what you call urgent." She then strolled down to them. "It's Hiccup."
"Something happened to you two? Because I can't help but notice his absence," Boun wonders.
"No, he's out with Toothless, he's fine. Everything between us is fine," Raya assured them both. "I'm actually planning a surprise for Hiccup and I need your help."
"A surprise?" Tong asked in surprise. "What kind of surprise?"
Raya explains to them, "It's Hiccup's 23rd birthday in a few days. And I want to surprise him."
"Ooh, a surprise birthday party," Boun said, liking this idea.
"Yeah, I need you guys to gather some more people, and I want to put a full celebration on." Raya explains and gestured to Sisu. "Sisu, think you can get your siblings to help out?"
"I don't see why not?" Sisu was happy to help. "At least, why not ask. I'll see what we can put together.
"That's all I ask of you to do." Raya nodded and looked to the others. "And I would like to get some great gifts for him."
"Ah, I can refurbish a new version of his sword with my new Gronckle Iron!" Tong already came up with some great ideas.
"I'll get me and my siblings cooking some of his favorite food." Boun offered.
"And see if you can get Noi and her mother here." Raya asks of them. "I know Hiccup would love to see her again."
"What about you, Raya? What do you plan to get him?" Boun wonders.
Raya sighed as she wasn't entirely sure what to get him as a gift. "I'm working on what to get him. What do you get the guy who has everything?"
Sisu wrapped herself around Raya with a smile. "Aw, come on, Raya, you know Hiccup better than everyone."
Raya blushed as she needs to find something to show her appreciation for him. He has done so much for them since the moment that he arrived.
Raya promises, "I'll come up with something."
Then Scorch, Cutter, and Steel noticed something in the sky. Everyone looked over to where they were looking and noticed Toothless coming through the moonlight.
"Uh-oh," Raya said as she saw Hiccup approaching. "Go, go. Keep this under wraps."
Boun and Tong nodded as they sneaked onto their dragons and flew off into the night. Raya then looked and wanted Sisu to do the same, and she sneaked off into the water.
Raya then leaped onto Cutter and snuck her way back to the castle. She needed to make it seem like she had been there the entire time.
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Namaari groaned as she reached upward and rubbed her head. She wasn't feeling an injury, though she feels like she was slammed against the ground. She felt her neck, feeling where she was hit with that dart. She started to feel the room around her shake, which is when she got the sense she was currently on a boat.
When she started to get up, she noticed that there was a chain connected to her foot, keeping her contained in the cell. She followed the chain and watched it go into the ground and bolted down. She winced at the pain it put on her leg and she wondered what was going to happen. Then the cell door opened and she saw Astrid who came to visit her with a plate of food.
Astrid suggests, "Answer any questions they ask you. You don't know what they might do to you if you don't."
Namaari scoffed and dragged the food over to her. "I know what they'll do to my people if I tell them anything."
Astrid asks her, "What is the utility force for your home? How many species of dragons are protecting it? Who is protecting the Dragon Conquerer?"
Namaari however didn't give her anything. "My home has suffered enough torment from our own kind. We don't need you coming here to try and destroy us. Leave. My. Home. Alone."
Astrid sighed as she realized she wasn't getting anywhere with her. "I tried it the easy way, remember that."
Namaari scoffed as she looked out the window. "You will regret this," she promised. "Don't blame me when they treat you like an animal."
"The only animals I see here are people like all of you," Namaari spat out in anger. She had seen many cultures in her travels where people killed innocent animals for some sort of status in their lives. "The real monsters in this world are men and women with no purpose other than to attack innocent creatures."
Astrid walked out of the cell and found Stoick waiting. "Well," he asked, "what did you find out?"
Astrid said apologetically, "Nothing. She isn't going to talk."
Stoick nodded. "You tried. Go and prepare for our arrival."
Astrid walked off and Gobber approached. "So, I know we never had a moment to really talk about this plan of yours, but teaming up with Drago of all things..."
"It's a means to an end," Stoick assures him as they wander the halls, trying their best to keep it down. "Once we find out where this Dragon Conqueror lives, and we destroy him, we will no longer need Drago."
"So, you plan to exploit him, then when the time comes, we sniff them both out," Gobber said, starting to understand what Stoick was planning.
Stoick nodded to confirm that was the plan. "When the time is right. It all ends."
"So, what are we going to do when we arrive?" Tuffnut asks as he leaned on the ledge of the ship.
"I say we go in and take down all of their dragons," Ruffnut cried as she jumped onto the edge.
Astrid sat down around the group. Fishlegs and Snotlout joined her.
Astrid asks, "How are you guys feeling? You know, with everything?"
"Apart from the fact we're working with an army of not-so-nice looking guys, just great," Fishlegs answered a little fearfully as he looked around at the Hunters. "But I am so excited to be seeing new dragons there."
"Uh, we're going to kill dragons, not study them," Ruffnut reminded him, breaking the mood.
Fishlegs defended, "Well, you need to study them to understand how to defeat them."
"Well, there are going to be a lot of dragons for you when we get there," Astrid stated as she looked out, seeing the dozens of other ships ahead, all of them following the direction the Terror was flying in. "But be ready. We're bound to be met with some resistance. This Dragon Conqueror is said to be the most dangerous man out of all."
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Hiccup made it back to his room in the castle, yawning as he took off his dragon scales and went behind the changing curtains. As he started to change, he heard a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" Hiccup wonders who would be knocking this late.
Raya explains as she opens the door, "It's just me. You just getting back?"
"Yeah, me and Toothless were stargazing, we just happened to fall asleep," Hiccup explained why they were out so late. "How about you? Did you get up to much?"
Raya just strolled around to not look him in the eye, or at all since he was still getting change. "No, not really. Just had a talk with Sisu and waited for you to come back."
Hiccup felt a little sorry to hear she had been waiting for him. "So, I kept you up?"
"No, it was more I just couldn't sleep," Raya said, not wanting him to feel mad or upset with himself. "Besides, I like to sleep in your arms."
Then Hiccup came from around the blinds and was dressed for bed. "That makes two of us, I assure you."
Raya then sat down on the bed and patted a spot beside her. "Then how about we get some sleep?"
Hiccup nodded as he rolled up and sat aside her, the two of them laying back in the bed. Toothless rolled his eyes and got onto his own bed, leaving the couple alone to just sleep. Hiccup pulled Raya close to him, happy to have the feeling of how safe she was in his grasp. Raya also loved the feeling of being in his hands and just knowing he was there for her and just leaned further into his touch.
Raya needed to find out how she was going to show how much she loved him for his birthday. Hiccup on the other hand needed to find the right time and the perfect words to explain to her how much he loved her. He needed to go out the next day and visit his friends for some advise.
Raya was getting some ideas as sleep was taking her away. There has to be something that she could give him to show how much she loves him.