"Viggo, Viggo Grimborn."
The name echoes throughout my mind in an endless loop. Standing in front of me is the infamous Dragon Hunter who captures dragons without so much as the bat of an eye. I try my best not to react to his name or the smirk he gives me afterwards; however, I can't help the shivers that run down my spine. "I haven't seen you around. How about I show you around the auction?"
No! No! my head screams. But, maybe you can use it to your advantage. Another part of my mind whispers. As I think more on it, I realize it is true. Viggo is probably running this auction and if I distract him, I can postpone the auction easily. "Well, I would love to see the dragons that may soon become mine," I say, with an air of indifference. Inside, however, I'm quivering with fear. Viggo, the most feared Dragon Hunter alive, is going to accompany me through the auction, an auction filled with cage dragons, dragons I could be helping, but I'm not. You are helping them in a way. I remind myself.
I steel myself and follow Viggo and the giant past the entrance and into the auction. My back is stiff, but my demeanor is calm as Viggo tells me where everything is. "Unfortunately, some... casualties have caused our stock to not be as good as normal," says Viggo, leading me into the maze of dragon cages. I try to focus on the bag of money instead of the caged dragons around me. If Viggo figures out that I am a friend to dragons, I am done for. "Some of the causes including a certain group of Dragon Riders. He looks at me. "Do you know of them?" I nod, deciding not to lie for now. "Have you had trouble with them?"
"No, I've only heard of them," I say. "But, then again, I don't sell dragons for a living," I say coldly. He nods and continues to lead me past each cage. "I don't suppose you have any especially valuable dragons?" I ask, wondering if I could somehow free them since they would probably be especially guarded.
"As a matter of fact, I do." He leads me towards the mountains, which are now close to us. We soon enter a system of caves that lead us into the mountains. The soft drip of water is occasionally heard, echoing loudly in the wide space. Soon, it is joined by the roars of dragons. Only a few by my reckoning, but enough to make my gut clench in fury. "Well our stock may be low, we have captured a variety exceptionally valuable dragons that will make quite the profit."
"Like what?" I ask, momentarily losing my act.
"Like these," he says, opening a metal door. I look through and gasp at the sight.
As we walk inside, I try and keep my jaw from dropping. He was right. He doesn't have many dragons, but the ones he had are enough. I see a few Quakens, quite a few Razorwhips, a crate of FireWorms, a Scauldron, and the most surprising of them all, a Skrill. The beast glares at the guards with an intensity that has me wanting to shy away from its gaze. The light purple skin defines the Skrill as a female, and a beautiful one at that. Despite being in a pool of water with a muzzle over her snout, she looks ready to fight at a moment's notice. Her face looks familiar, but I've never seen a Skrill, so there's no way I could've met her.
As such, I stare openly, her beauty entrancing me. "I see you have a fine taste in dragons," Vigo says, startling me from my state. "You know, I would be able to offer a trade that would guarantee you this dragon."
I look at him suspiciously. "Like what?" I ask.
"Oh, nothing much. I simply require assistance from you. You see, I am searching for information. Information on dragons to be precise."
"Which dragons?" I ask, thinking this was not too much a price.
"At the moment, all of them. But, you can assist me in two particular dragons. The NightFury and the Skrill." Of course. I knew there must be a catch. He needs info on the NightFury, since Hiccup has one, and I can only guess why he would need information on a Skrill. On the one hand, I can give him the information and betray Hiccup and gain a Skrill, but on the other hand, I could not give him information and lead to him being suspicious and the small chance that the riders can't rescue the Skrill.
"Alright," I say slowly. "I'll tell you all I know about them. But, be warned, I don't know that much." For once, the voice in my head is silent and I'm uncertain whether or not I made the right choice. "I want the Skrill first though," I say on an afterthought.
"Very well," says Viggo. He instructs for the Skrill to be taken out and put in a moveable cage also filled with water. The cage is a greenish color and I deduce that it is dragon-proof. It is carted over to me and I grab the handles quickly. "Now that I have offered my services, it is your turn," Viggo says.
I gulp and close my eyes, preparing myself for what was to come next. Ok, here goes. I think and begin talking...
* * *
Hiccup and Astrid sit creep through the maze of dragon cages, walking slowly and carefully. They glance around frequently, clearly not wanting to be found. As they go, they silently unlock dragon after dragon, shushing them so they wouldn't be caught. Their dragons are no where to be found, clearly hiding until their riders need them. When they are past the first row of cages, Astrid whispers, "Are you sure it is a good idea to leave Snotlout, Ruff, and Tuff with Fishlegs?"
"Would you rather leave them alone?" Hiccup asks. Astrid face still holds a mixture of doubt. "Don't worry, they'll be fine. Even they aren't dumb enough to reveal themselves in the middle of Hunter territory."
"I know, it's just weird. I mean, we're fighting Hunters, but there's no more Viggo," she adds in a whisper. "I thought we finally got rid of them."
"I know, I know," Hiccup whispers. He sighs and they continue on. Suddenly, an explosion rakes through the ground, causing the cages beside them to rattle. "Oh, for the love of Thor," he says, clearly upset.
"Apparently, you were wrong about them," mutters Astrid, hurrying to free more dragons. Hiccup stays silent and helps her, glancing over as another explosion rakes the ground...
* * *
This time, the explosion is definitely caused by Tuffnut and Ruffnut. "Weren't we supposed to be silent?" Ruffnut yells to Tuffnut.
"Yes, my dear sister. But Snotlout here made Hookfang light those jars of Monstrous Nightmare gel, giving away our position. So, why be cautious?" declares Tuffnut, gesturing at Snotlout, who isn't actually there.
"Good point!" yells Ruffnut. They continue to blow cages open. "Hey, where did Fishlegs and Snotlout go anyway?" asks Ruffnut.
"Hmm, I don't know." He pauses to think. "Ok, you look for Snotlout and I'll look for Fishlegs."
"Good idea," Ruffnut says. "Snotlout," she shouts, steering her Zippleback head to the right.
"Fishlegs," Tuffnut shout at the same time, pulling his head to the left. They both go farther and farther away from one another until the two heads snap back together from the effort of pulling apart. Tuffnut, dazed, says, "Ok, again!"
"Uh, I think we might have bigger problems..." says Ruffnut. They had just curved around the mountain to be faced with an army of Hunters. "Run!" she screams and they try turning the other way. Unfortunately, Hunters had crept in behind them, blocking their passage.
"Barf, Belch, light 'em up!" says Tuffnut, seemingly unaware of the danger.
Ruffnut seems to have forgotten as well as she screams, "Woohoo!" as they dive towards the Hunters, the right Zippleback head letting out a stream of flammable gas behind it. The other head ignites it with a boom, sending Hunters flying. The Hunters have no shortage of ammo though. The twins have to avoid torrents of arrows flying at them. And, although they are skilled, an arrow still manages to bury itself in the left head.
"Belch!" Tuffnut cries. He reaches over to grab the arrow and ends up falling off, clutching the arrow. "Oh no," he says and the arrow snaps, sending him plummeting to the ground. "I regret nothing!" he yells as he falls into some bushes. The Hunters ignore him, instead sending out a net to catch Barf, Belch, and Ruffnut. They get dragged to the ground and Tuffnut hurries away, muttering, "I need to get to Hiccup, He can help." Ruffnut and her dragon, however, are shoved into cages and wheeled off to be held prisoner in the mountain...