Viggo Grimborn,
I'd like to call a peaceful meeting. You decide the place and time, though I insist that you pick a time that's soon. Come alone and I will do the same. We need to talk.
Hiccup Haddock.
Hiccup made the letter brief; he needed to have the real conversation face to face, not on paper. Letting Viggo choose the time and place was a necessary sacrifice to make sure the hunter had no reason to back out. Now all that remained was getting the letter to Viggo. Terror mail was out of the question since it would be sentencing the terrible terror to be at the hunters' mercy once it has delivered the message. Luckily, Hiccup knew someone who could help.
Toothless flew over the waters leading to Outcast Island, directed by Hiccup, who knew the trading ship's route lead here around this time. When they spotted the ship, Hiccup made a finger motion and the nightfury sped up, diving towards it.
"Trader Johann!" Hiccup yelled as Toothless landed impactfully on the ship, making it teeter. Johann gasped and grabbed the side of his ship with one hand while his other clutched his chest.
"Master Hiccup!" the gentleman exclaimed, quivering. "While your entrances are quite the spectacle could you relay an early warning of some sort? I daresay, one day my soul won't return to my body after such a fright."
"Ah, sorry." Hiccup walked up to him and Johann straightened.
"No worries," he said cheerfully, then performed a quick theatrical bow and asked, "How may I be of service? I have a new stock of quills and — OH the best spices today! Or would you like your usual assortment of ink?"
"No thanks," Hiccup said, taking out a folded piece of paper. "I have a special request for you."
"Yes, yes?"
"Can you deliver this note to Viggo Grimborn?"
"Viggo Grimborn!" Johann gasped. "The feared and renowned leader of the dragon hunters? Please tell me you are joking."
"I'm not — this message is really important. Can you?" Hiccup pressed.
"But Hiccup, those dragon hunters..." Johann drummed his fingers together anxiously. "They're not the finest of company, to say the least. I... I couldn't."
Toothless growled at his refusal, making him jump.
"Please, Johann," Hiccup said. "You trade with practically anyone. I know you have the means to pull this off, easily too."
"For no sum of money could I go up to such a dangerous man and... and..." The trader trailed off as Hiccup held out a small pouch and jingled the coins inside it. After a moment of hesitation, Johann grabbed the pouch and peeked inside. He sucked in a breath before closing it.
"Very well, master Hiccup," he said, holding on to the rather valuable pouch. "Though I'm in no way comfortable with this..."
"Thank you so much," Hiccup sighed in relief and handed him the paper. "Now, you must get it to him as soon as possible."
"As soon as my sails can take me!"
"Good."
"This will be quite an interesting quest. Reminds me of the time I—"
"Can't listen, gotta run!" Hiccup cut him off with an easy smile as he hopped on Toothless. "See you around," he called back after Toothless took off.
Johann's response was lost to him as the pair sped off and a grim expression fell over Hiccup's face. He wished he could find Kiara as easily as he had found Johann, but when the last place he knew she was... was with Viggo, there is no telling where she could be now. A prisoner? Escaped but dragon-less and unable to return? Or just avoiding the riders completely? No... she wouldn't do that. Wherever she was, Hiccup hoped she was okay.
-
Fully clad in the black Defender of the Wing uniform, Kiara plodded up the steps to Je'ann's hut, dragging her feet like they were slabs of rock. Since her right shoulder was busted with its arm in a sling, she shrugged the door open with her left and, once inside, pushed it closed with her back. Leaning against it, she pulled off her face covering and breathed out. It was her third day at Calvin Cay and it had been a long one.
Usually, right now would be when she would stay awake, wondering what happened to the riders. Did they make it? Are Heather and Windshear free? Do they wonder what happened to her? Her thoughts often strayed to her encounter with Viggo as well, keeping her up long into the late hours of the night. She would wonder whether he truly knew how much she valued the crystal or whether he threw the chagewing egg to use her love for dragons against her? Either way, the man knew too much and planned too well, and she had no idea how.
But today, as she made her way to her bed and lay awake on it, her train of thought went in a completely different direction and she found herself pondering over what Robbie had said that night just before they went after Viggo: Is that empty toilet roll really worth it? With Viggo's orders, the hunters had fought tooth and claw for that dragon-eye and, after a long struggle against Hiccup's team, now they had it. But at what cost? Viggo had deployed and lost so many ships to the riders while chasing after it. Was the dragon-eye worth that financial blow to his business? His empire was already thriving without it: the hunters had the knowledge of how to refine and use dragon root for their weapons and build dragon proof cages and countless traps. Surely the dragon-eye was little more than a decorative object to a hunter fleet that was already so advanced...
Eventually, the tiredness from the day's activities caught up to her. After spending all afternoon harvesting herbs under the persistent sun, then spending the evening figuring out how to organise them with her left (and weaker) hand, all while running on just a couple of hours of sleep, she was drained. Still faintly wondering what was going on in Viggo's head, Kiara felt her consciousness drift away. Sleep beckoned her and she steadily fell towards it.
"Kiara!"
"You need to come!"
Faint voices buzzed in the girl's barely conscious mind. Eyes closed, Kiara groaned and ignored them.
"The egg..."
"Kiara, get over here!"
"The egg is hatching!" Robbie yelled to her mind from the border of the village.
Kiara jerked awake, yelling when a bout of pain hit her shoulder. "On my way," she replied. "This better not be your fifth false alarm!"
She stumbled outside, bumping into Je'ann, who was about to come in. Apologising, she jogged away.
"Where are you going?" Je'ann called after her.
"The egg is hatching!" Kiara called back.
"How can you know?"
Not responding, Kiara sped up as much as she could, even though the impact of her feet hitting the ground seemed to travel straight up, banging painfully into her shoulder. She skidded to a halt by the edge of the village, where a bright glow that rivalled the moonlight was being emitted from a nest in the lowest branch of a pine tree. Jittering with excitement, Whiplash and Robbie were stood up on their hind legs to have a clear view of the egg. The latter bounced over to Kiara. "I'm gonna be a Pappy dragon!" he happily exclaimed. Laughing, Kiara rubbed under his chin, saying, "Ooo yesh you are!"
"Come on, you'll miss it!" Whiplash told them excitedly. Robbie skidded back into position as Whiplash lowered herself for Kiara to get on for a better view. Before mounting, Kiara glanced around doubtfully and spotted Je'ann who had followed her.
"Oh, I don't mind," Je'ann assured her, raising her palms.
Carefully, Kiara climbed on and Whiplash elevated her. Meanwhile, Je'ann gasped as Robbie grabbed and pulled her onto his shoulder, where she hung on like a koala-bear.
"It's... brighter," Kiara whispered. The egg's once soft glow was now growing into a brilliant shine, making her squint as it reflected in their eyes and lit up everyone's faces. Everyone held their breath, listening to a faint clack-clack coming from inside.
A crack appeared and shone white like frozen lightning. Je'ann shielded her eyes with her forearm. Kiara stared on until another brighter crack appeared, forcing her to look away. There was a woosh as the light reached its highest intensity before abruptly extinguishing itself. Kiara blinked rapidly as the sudden darkness pressed against her eyeballs, then she saw the baby, shining wet, curled up and still radiating a small glow.
With a little whine, the changewing uncurled itself. The remaining eggshell fell away and crunched as the hatchling shook out its tiny body while its eyes remained closed. He was small enough to fit comfortably on a human's cupped hands and had ruby scales that glittered in the moonlight.
Robbie let out a happy roar, pulling the others from their awed trance. "Issa baby boy!" he rejoiced.
"Awww!" Kiara squealed, her chest bubbling over with happiness while Whiplash leaned towards the baby, emanating a loving purr. Kiara carefully reached over and stroked the baby's back, making him emit a happy high-pitched purr.
"Incredible," Je'ann breathed. Robbie started bouncing around so she slid off and landed on her feet. He continued springing up from every side of the nest, chattering excitedly. He froze with his face inches from the hatchling when it — when he — blinked open his eyes. Robbie's chest rose and fell as the two locked eyes immediately. The hatchling crawled and shuffled closer to him. Robbie responded with a similar, though deeper sound. Another inch closer, then the baby rested his head against the older changewing's snout, purring. Robbie relaxed completely and made a comforting whispering sound, like that of colourful autumn leaves as they rushed to blanket the ground. He scooped the little dragon up onto his snout and lowered onto the ground, where the two snuggled together.
"It's official," Whiplash said to Kiara, smiling proudly.
"What is?" she whispered back, though she had a strong feeling of what — and it made her melt with joy.
"Robbie has adopted him."