Chapter 42: A Lost Cause

Hiccup

"Hiccup you are not coming with us, you understand me! Anything could happen while we're there and we can't have you getting hurt or lost!" Astrid kept arguing with me about whether or not I was coming on this mission. It fuming hearing her words of not letting me go with them, just because its Viggo's domain doesn't mean I should be left behind feeling useless. Yes history with them has been difficult but I'm not being left behind with them thinking I can't handle myself or handle the situation and besides I know the auction trades better than any of them so in reality I'd be a liable asset to the group. "Astrid I'm coming okay! I'm not staying behind by myself doing nothing waiting for you to come back with a win or no win. Look I know what you're thinking and just because he's gonna be there doesn't mean anything's gonna happen to me and besides I know these auctions better than any of you, so I'm coming end of story," I argued back at her and made my way onto the ship with the others without another word while she groaned in frustration flying her hands up in the air finally giving up. "You know Astrid, he has a point with everything he knows we could be in and out without a blink," Fishlegs tried sticking up for me as soon as Astrid settled on the ship with us but she didn't say a word just kept a concerning eye on me the whole time until her gaze settled on Snotlout. On her trip to Berk with the twins, Snotlout and Fishlegs, she convinced my father to hand over Berks gold for the auction which Snotlout would use pretending to be some Chief or King of sorts to enter the auction without being suspected but apparently my father had one condition and that was to bring his trusty friend Gobber along. He didn't seem so bad, in fact he seemed quite friendly and when he arrived he told me all about his friendship with my father and the close connection he had with my family, it was quite distracting how he owned an interchangeable hand and how he was missing a leg so used a peg. I wanted to ask what happened to him but I didn't want to intrude on stories of his past as I don't know what could have happened it could be hard to talk about.

As we neared closer to the compound Gobber and Snotlout ventured off onto a separate ship which was brought along with us – Gobber controlled that one most of the way so it was only Snotlout we had to say goodbye to and we all prayed that he played his part effectively. The rest of us ventured on down below the ship commanded by Johann; as we went on down all the riders dragons were locked up in one of the cages Heather and I arranged earlier. Toothless wasn't part of the group as he'd give away the game so when Heather and I made the hatch down below we made it big enough so Toothless could fit down there with us. Toothless headed on down first, soon followed by me, Heather, Astrid, the twins and Fishlegs; Johann closed the hatch when he knew we were all down there safely before heading back up to the deck. We sat in silence waiting for what was going to happen and as soon as we felt the ship dock we waited for voices to appear up on deck and that's when I heard the deep booming voice of Ryker. I didn't let the shudders fall down my spine instead I composed myself to listen intently. The fear I've been feeling about the Grimborns was starting to evaporate and I felt that maybe I was getting stronger fighting the fear because as the booming voice spoke to Johann up on deck it didn't seem at all frightening or alarming instead it just sounded like an everyday voice coming from a stranger. Soon the second voice appeared and it turned out to be Viggo, a small shudder took play down my back but I didn't let it show because I knew there was nothing to be afraid of, just like I said to Astrid just because I was at his domain doesn't mean something is going to happen to me. Just the thought of Astrid here with me along with everyone else just proved my point, they've already made it clear that they don't want anything to happen to me so they won't let it and neither will I. The crash of footsteps soon made their way down to the bottom of the deck and we could all hear the Johann talking more loudly than before.

I thought we were safe, I thought Johann played his part well until a creak was heard from up above us. Each one of us froze in our places exchanging worried looks with each other as Johann tried explaining why the creak happened but the hush of Viggo's voice sent a stammer through my heart making it beat unevenly. I watched from the crack in the wood as a coin was dropped through the crack of the wood and down in the centre of all our feet, again we all exchanged looks with each other now holding our breathes. The feet up above started to walk away so I felt I could breathe again that wasn't until Toothless suddenly wrapped his huge wings around all of us below deck and the wood from up above broke and fell down below us all. I held my breath once again and waited till the presence of Viggo disappeared for good "We accept your terms Johann. Unload Johann's ship and put them with the other dragons," and that was the last we all heard of Viggo before he departed for good. We had to wait a while longer for the hunters to unload the dragons off the ship before we could depart ourselves. "Okay so where to now?" Fishlegs looked at Astrid as she led the way; we all headed up towards one of the far hills at the top I recognised to be a tent of yellow, orange and red colouring when I paid a closer look I knew the tent to be Viggo's so I pulled Astrid back "What's wrong?" she asked caught off guard so I pointed up at the tent "That's Viggo's tent, why are we heading up there?" she sighed relaxing in her position and looked at the Fishlegs and the twins, "Go find our dragons and free any other dragons you can around that area," the three nodded at her and headed off the Astrid looked back at me "Gobber and Snotlout are getting us the manifest so we can find the rest of the dragons and when we have it and freed them all we'll be on our way outta here," I nodded at her slowly taking in all the information she just said before she, Heather and I headed back up the hill to the back of the tent waiting once more.

I could hear Snotlout and Gobber arguing with each other inside but soon got cut off but the sound of Ryker entering the tent where they soon had to exit. The three of us cut round the tent slowly making sure no one could see us then as we reached round the front Gobber threw a piece of parchment behind his back sending it in our direction. Astrid opened it up and smirked to each of us; we all hoped on Toothless and he ran in the direction of the caves near the deserted section of the island. As Toothless entered the cave I felt a cold rush of wind wash over my body but the sound of roars up ahead sent a flicker of warmth back through me as I knew we'd found the right place. I picked up the keys hanging on the hook as we entered the cave and handed a few over to Heather and Astrid "It might be easier if we split up," Heather suggested, I nodded in agreement while Astrid shook her head "Astrid if we stick together the longer it will take to free the dragons, we can save a lot more if we split up," Heather tried convincing her best friend until Astrid finally gave in to the idea but the displeasure through her sapphire eyes didn't show she was confident about the idea. Heather was already on her way after Astrid agreed with the idea but Astrid was still sat on the back of Toothless looking at me with caution and worry which she didn't need to be "I'll be fine, I have him," I rubbed Toothless's head as he cooed in our direction; Astrid slapped a small smile on her face and went on her way slowly while Toothless and I started searching down the cave. At first we came across a speed stinger, I wasn't too fond of these dragons but I still had to let the little one go free. I moved up closer to the bars and fiddled with the keys trying each one in turn hoping to find the right one, hoping I hadn't given the key to Astrid or Heather instead.

With fiddling around with the keys for about five minutes I finally came across the right key and as soon as I opened the cage the stinger ran straight past me, if Toothless hadn't pulled me out of the way when he did I'm pretty sure I would have been stung and paralyzed for a long while. The pair of us headed down numerous cages freeing numerous dragons which ranged from, Nadders, Gronckles, Zipplebacks, Changewings, there were so many of them and I felt we were making great progress. We made our way to one of the far end cages and we were faced with a Catastrophic Quaken. I fiddled around with the keys once again trying to find the right one until I heard Toothless start to growl. I looked his direction and then faced the direction he was growling at, I went and stood by his side to find hunters coming in my directions "Okay Toothless make the shot count," he was about to fire one up until I held him back and felt defeated in my stance because held in the hunters arms were Heather and Astrid struggling with everything they had. "Sorry Hiccup," Heather apologised to me as she broke free from the hand clasped around her mouth but soon placed back over it "It's okay Heather," I tried to not sound defeated but I knew I was and as soon as other hunters started to make their appearance I knew there was no way Toothless and I could fight them all off and save the girls at the same time. One of the hunters came closer to Toothless ready to put a leather strap round his muzzle. The hunters dragged the girls away and I couldn't see where they vanished too and soon Toothless too was taken away from me which just left me alone with the surroundings hunters around me and once again I felt lost but still no fear crept in. "Look what we have here," I turned round slowly to see Ryker smoothly make his way through the clasp of hunters and make his acquaintance with me. I stood strong and tall with my position as he came closer to me and I made eye contact to show I didn't feel be-little against him as he growled smirking at me.

Suddenly I felt my weight drop down to the ground from the blow he took against my face; I lifted my head up slightly but it was soon yanked as Ryker grabbed my hair pulling me up fully to look back at him as I felt the warm texture of blood start to drip down past my eye from where Johann hit me a few days back now. "Viggo will be so happy to see you," he dragged me up off the floor pulling me through the crowd of hunters down a few inches of the cave to be stood there Viggo himself. I was thrust down to the floor with no remorse as I could hear Viggo make his way towards me "In all honesty Hiccup I'm surprised your even here. I didn't think you'd find any courage to show your face anywhere around these areas but I guess I was proven wrong. Then again, I guess Johann was right; you did just drag yourself back to us. Let me ask you, did you miss it Hiccup? Did you miss being in the presence of your real home? Don't worry, because we're going to make sure that you never leave again," I didn't look at him once through the whole speech he was giving me because I couldn't stand to look upon his face but at the mention of Johann, the mention of him calling this my home sent hot boils through my blood. When he was done before I could even calculate what I was doing, I jumped up and tackled Viggo down into the ground. My fist connected with his face multiple times as I tortured him just like how he used to torture me. I grabbed hold of his shoulders and smashed his body down into the ground as his head collided harshly with the concrete, I did this about three times before I started punching him in the face again. As I went to take another punch I felt my body lift away from him and I struggled within the grasp of Ryker "I HATE YOU!!! YOU HEAR ME, I HATE YOU!!!!" I felt like a kid once again as I screamed at my captor, I struggled profoundly in the arms of Ryker while Viggo composed himself off the ground acting as if I never made a mark.

"I think someone needs to be taught a lesson, wouldn't you agree Ryker?" Viggo looked up at his brother as he pulled out a cloth from his pocket to wipe away the blood inflicted upon his face by my hand. I still struggled against Ryker the best that I could while a smirk was ripped upon his face. I felt my body drop down to the ground but as I got up ready to make a run for it two hunters came over and grabbed my two arms outwards. I felt another hunter lift up the tunic I was wearing so I could feel the cold rush of wind travel up my back, but that soon disappeared when I could hear and feel the crack of the whip make that connection with my back. I couldn't help but let a cry come out from my throat as the pain was excruciating; the whip kept cracking down on my back and the screams kept coming from my throat until I could feel it turn hoarse. My whole body felt incredibly weak, so weak that my knees buckled and I landed down into the concrete. The hunters couldn't hold my body up as I travelled downwards and from the blurry tears I could see Viggo raise his hand for his brother to lower the whip "I think he's learnt his lesson...at least for now. Grab him and follow me," I didn't want to move because the pain was unbearable and I wasn't even able to not think about it because it was that bad. Though I had no choice, I felt my body be lifted off the ground immediately by Ryker and with the pressure he pulled against me I screamed out in pain once again not that it mattered to him of course. He dragged me down the long hallway of the cave until I could hear Viggo speaking smoothly and fluently to someone "Presuming this is all Berks gold, something tells me they're gonna hit their bottom line. But trust me the money will be going to a great cause, as our your dragons," I could hear something wheel across the cave in the direction we were heading to but the voice which called out caught my attention "Toothless!" It was Astrid's voice calling out to my dragon. I lifted my head up to see Toothless chained and muzzled ready to be sold "Where's Hiccup?!" I heard her call out again and that's when I felt my body be pushed forwards further.

"I was hoping you'd ask that," with Viggo giving a confirmation to his brother I felt my weight be dragged out into the open area where Viggo stood. Ryker thrust me down to the ground next to Viggo not that I minded this time because I couldn't carry my weight around any further. "Hiccup!!" I heard them all cry out my name but the one which stood out the most to me was Astrid, the fear inside, the shake which was attached to it sent regret tremors through me because she was right, I should have stayed back at the Edge but I insisted that I come instead. This was all my fault, "I just want to thank you for bringing him back home where he rightfully belongs," I heard a crash on the bars come from in front of me and as I looked up I could see Astrid's hands clasped round them tightly with anger but when he looked down at me she looked defeated as if she had failed me but in fact it was I who failed her. Soon after I felt my weight be lifted back up and dragged out of the cave, the sudden darkness from the night sky felt welcoming to me but it was pushed aside when I felt Ryker twist his hand down harder on my arm, I wanted to struggle against him but I just didn't have the energy to do anything not anymore and the feeling of defeat and regret was weighing me down, it was no longer fear but regret instead. I could see the looming stand of the dragon auction coming into view and Ryker made me take a seat at the back row and all the memories of the other auctions started to come into view in my mind, it hurt but there was nothing I could do instead I just lowered my head and stared at my hands so I didn't have to witness anything. That was until I heard "That's right gentleman, your eyes do not deceive you. A NightFury, the holy offspring of lightening and death itself, the last of its kind," My head shot up immediately and I went to intervene until Ryker placed a hand on my shoulder keeping me in place.

"Leave him alone!" I shouted up at Ryker but to no prevail he did nothing, instead he kept his hand pressured into my shoulder keeping me in place while I locked eye contact with Toothless up on the stand with sorrow and guilt. I even failed him; I failed my dragon. "Sold," Viggo commanded pointing to the man at the back behind me, I looked round and he was wearing a red top and white, creamy pants with a blue hooded cloaked with the hood up holding up a big bag of gold coins. Without even a hesitation I cried out "Noo!!" Viggo made eye contact with his brother with a furious look inside his eyes and immediately I felt my weight be lifted out of the seat and this time I did struggle. I struggled as proud as anything to reach Toothless so I could hug him and apologise; as he watched me he did his best to struggle in his own chains but he couldn't reach me like I couldn't reach him. Dragging seemed to be a problem for Ryker to control me with as I suddenly had multiple strength to pull away from him and fight him off; he wrapped his arms round my waist and picked me holding me against him roughly and as firm as possible as he found it easier to control me but that didn't stop me from fighting. Through it all, suddenly a loud explosion was heard and out from the fire stood Astrid and the others. I looked over at Viggo who looked incredibly displeasing with the circumstances, he came and stood next to his brothers side "Deal with this," Ryker nodded at his brother while he handed me over to Viggo. Viggo had to put up with dragging me as he didn't have the strength his brother had to lift my weight off the ground. I pulled hard against him when I could see the looming ship coming up in the distance but with everything I had there was just no use. I was still the weak kid I've always been or I just used up all my rage beating Viggo up.

I was buried under the deck and as I was pulled across the hallway down to Viggo's office I struggled more than I have ever done before because I knew what was coming and I didn't like it, I didn't want to go there. Viggo barged his door open and pulled me across the room to the separate room across from his office; he opened the door with the same pressure he did with his office and dragged me on inside. He slammed my weight down on the wrecked bed and started messing around with the chains. I kept pushing my weight up from the bed and headed for the door but he always pulled me back down each time but I never stopped trying and neither did he when pulling me back. The next time I got up to leave he pulled me back with a strong force clasping the manacle around my wrist as he did, soon followed by the second one then he made sure they were connected to the chain toughly. He pulled on the chain connected to the latch in the ground then tugged on the chain connected with the manacles around my wrists before getting up and making a leave. I ran closely behind him but got pulled back by the chain just as Viggo slammed the door behind me "YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME IN HERE!! LET ME OUT!! LET ME OUT!!" I screamed loudly towards the door still running to reach it but repeatedly failing at the same time. I still kept going and going but with no results, including my yelling it was getting me nowhere and I soon fell down to the ground in defeat once again because I knew I would get nowhere, I knew I was going nowhere so instead I was trapped once again in the Grimborns hands.