six

ALL ALORA KNEW WAS THAT SHE WAS ANGRY. She was so angry that after Hiccup received Terror mail from Viggo saying he wanted to meet, she decided to come along. That and the fact that everyone in the group was getting hurt and not telling anyone.

She decided to stay back with Astrid, but didn't keep her eyes off of their small figures.

But then something happened.

Her eyes widened.

She could hear their conversation.

How was this possible?! It doesn't make any sense. She was in the air, up here and they were on the ground, down there. But nevertheless she listened.

When they went back to the Edge, Astrid saw Alora pacing back and forth. The moment she saw the rolled up parchment in Hiccup's hand, she put a finger on his chest.

"No!"

"What?" he asked, confused as to why she was acting so hostile.

"I know I haven't been here for long, but when I went undercover that man got on my nerves. Now he has the audacity to ask for a truce?!"

"Hang on, how do you know about that?"

"Wait, Viggo wants a truce?!" Astrid yelled. "You're joking, right?"

He showed them the map where Viggo divided the sea and had signed his name on the bottom.

But Hiccup's mind was elsewhere. Alora saw he was sitting in front of a game staring intensely. She saw a certain darkness in his eyes, one she didn't quite like.

"Why are you staring at it?" Alora asked.

"Because this is where I'll find all the answers."

"Care to elaborate?"

"You see, Viggo's a game player. His moves are never what they seem."

"So there could be a reason as to why he wants you to stay away from that part of the archipelago."

"Exactly."

"So why don't we start at the edge of the map? There's an island below the red line, we could start there."

Hiccup looked up at her.

"What? This whole thing feels like one giant game of Battlefield. You never know what or when the other person is going to make a move."

He raised an eyebrow.

"So apparently I used to play a boardgame with my father called Battlefield. It's random, but at least I know I have a dad!"

⬩⬩⬩⬩⬩⬩⧌⬩⬩⬩⬩⬩⬩

A few days later, they arrived on the island and Alora couldn't help but feel uneasy. She walked closer to Hiccup and Astrid.

"I don't like this," she told her.

"Why wouldn't Viggo want us to find out about this place?" Hiccup asked.

Suddenly one-by-one, they were being picked off. Hiccup, Astrid, and Alora were the only ones left. Two darts were shot their way but Astrid caught the first two.

"We come in—"

Hiccup was shot. Then Astrid. Alora watched in slow motion as the dart was shot towards her. She looked down and saw that the moment it hit her chest, it shattered into small fragments.

Told you it was going to get interesting.

Several darts later and the people were confused as to why she was awake.

"Okay! I'm gonna say it!" she yelled at them. "The darts don't work on me! And my friend, he was going to say we come in peace but clearly you hate us all. So I'll just say this. I will not fight back as long as you are gentle with them."

Suddenly she watched people appear in front of her wearing what looked to be like ninja clothing.

"But I get to carry him," she told them, gesturing towards Hiccup. "And as far as you're concerned, the first dart knocked me out."

She picked up the Little Prince and carried him bridal style. They had people surrounding her as they carried the others and tied their hands behind their backs. She carefully placed Hiccup down and placed him on his knees. Then she placed her hands behind her back and allowed them to tie her.

"See? I was true to my word!"

They didn't say anything. So Alora spent the next thirty minutes I'm silence. Then she saw a man in different clothing approach them.

"I thought they were all knocked out?"

"There were some technical difficulties regarding your sleep darts," she told him.

Alora saw the dragons nearby and looked at the fruit they were feeding them.

Hiccup stirred awake beside her and soon everyone woke up confused. Hiccup stood up out of anger.

I'd just like to point out, at this point in time, I am not aware as to why the darts didn't affect me. So I assumed it was magic.

"I am Throk," he said, before putting a hand on Hiccup and forcing him to kneel. "All hail Mala, Queen Defenders of the Wing."

Everyone bowed and Alora looked at the short haired blonde woman that walked towards them. She was different. She wore a black dress with a gold outline.

"So these are the Dragon Hunters your men captured, Throk?"

Alora wondered if anyone was going to say anything about the darts.

"Yes, my Queen."

"Wait, Hunters? Us? You've got to be kidding," Astrid said.

Of course they had to end up on an island with a weird monarchy where they would "face a royal trail" for their crimes as Dragon Hunters.

Alora huffed as Hiccup decided that everyone was going to stay put and go through with it.

"You do realize that there's a ninety-nine percent chance that they won't believe us, right?" she told him.

"Then I guess I'm running with the one percent that they will."

"Hiccup, I really hope you're right about this," Astrid said.

∾

The trail didn't exactly go as planned and now they were all heading towards the nest.

"One percent Haddock," Alora muttered. "You went off of one percent!"

"Would it kill you to have a little bit of faith in me?!" he whispered. "Relax Aly, I got this under control."

"You're such a royal pain in the ass."

But as he stepped forward to receive judgement, Alora didn't hesitate to call out to him.

"Good luck Hiccup."

"I'll be okay Aly."

"So he can train any dragon, right?" Heather asked.

"Yeah, except for Changewings, Whispering Deaths, and. . ."

"Speed Stingers," Hiccup whispered. But Alora heard him.

Then, Throk pushed him down into the pit. Alora ran towards him without muttering a word. But a sword blocked her way. Mala's fierce eyes bared into her soul.

But Alora sent back the same energy, if not even more, with her piercing blue eyes that burned into her skull.

"Easy, Aly!" Astrid said, pulling her back. But the two girls were worried about their friend below.

But Alora pushed forward but Throk put her in a hold with his ax. The young girl was so concerned about the one-legged Viking that she didn't realize she was breaking the handle. Throk and Mala noticed. Even Astrid could hear the cracking sound.

"Hiccup!"

"I'm okay! So far."

Just then, the handle had a split crack down the middle. And her grip eased when an idea popped into Alora's head.

"Toothless," she whispered.

Suddenly the Night Fury came to aid its best friend and scared off the Speed Stingers. Mala released them and Hiccup was feeling proud of himself.

Until Alora unleashed her fury.

"OW! Why would you do that?!" he yelled, placing a hand on his chest.

"You're on thin ice Haddock, thin ice!"

Astrid looked at Throk's broken ax and glanced back at Alora. A part of her suspicions were correct, but there were still many things to solve and now new questions arose.

Astrid was always the smart one. I just still can't believe she didn't say anything when she found out.

Toothless was the reason for why Alora had calmed down. And the woman that nearly killed her friend was now giving them a tour of her village. They had this whole speech about a great protector. While Alora had wished she found something interesting she spoke too soon as she saw smoke in the volcano near them.

She found herself walking beside Toothless up a mountain to look for a massive lava-eating dragon.

"Uh, Hiccup," Astrid said, picking up an arrow.

"Dragon Hunters?" Alora asked.

"Viggo. He wasn't trying to keep us away from the island! He was luring us here as a diversion so they could steal their dragon! How did I fall for that?!"

"Easy tiger. If that arrow is fresh—"

"Then that must mean they're still on the island," Astrid finished.

"So you were a distraction," Mala said, pulling out her sword.

"Mala it's not what you think!"

As she faced it towards him, Alora did the unthinkable.

She stood in front of the sword.

"You want him? Then you'll need to go through me."