"Come on, bud," Hiccup urged his dragon to go faster. They cut through the air, in a rush to get home. There was no way he and Toothless would be able to save his sister and her dragon themselves. They needed Valka.

They sped over the ice and water, still a long way off from the Sanctuary.

Hiccup worried that they wouldn't make it back in time. For a normal dragon, it was a few hour's flight from the Sanctuary to the Bloody Barbarian's island. Hiccup reckoned that it took Stonescale a little over two hours, with him being so slow.

"Just a little faster," Hiccup encouraged.

They were maybe fifteen minutes out, when a cry cut through the sky.

"Hiccup!"

The pair slowed at the sound. They turned and spotted two dragons heading their way.

"Is that... Marina and Goldstar?" Toothless asked, eying the specks that drew closer.

"What?" Hiccup was confused. Why would Natalia and Goldstar be flying with Willow out here?

They flew to greet the travelers.

"We've been trailing you for ages! Didn't you hear us?"

Hiccup shook his head. He had been too focused on his destination. Nothing else had entered his head. Until now.

"Natalia, Goldstar, what are you doing out here?"

"You wanna know?" Natalia asked. She turned and Goldstar raised her tail. Tied to one of the tassels on the Scuttleclaw's tail, was a small, red banner. Something black was on it, but he couldn't make it out. It fluttered in the wind, but after a few seconds, he recognized the horns, eyes, and teeth.

He looked back at his dragon's tail, unable to believe it.

"Is that-?"

"Your insignia? Yep. I hope you don't mind."

"It's great!"

Natalia laughed nervously. "Good, because..."

She held out her messenger bag. Painted on the back and the flap was the insignia in red. "So people know where our loalties lie," she told him.

"Whoa," Hiccup breathed. He also noticed all of Marina's trading bags bore the same insignia.

"And that's not all," Willow said, "Natalia made banners with the insignia, and we've traded five of them! And do you remember Snove and Daniel, on Glacier Island? They special ordered a few, and now they've got them hanging on their tent! You're popular, Hiccup!"

Toothless growled.

"They mean both of us, bud," Hiccup reassured him.

"So, why were you guys flying so fast? Or is that your normal speed?" Goldstar asked.

Suddenly, the urgency of the situation returned. Hiccup and Toothless took off in the direction of the Sanctuary.

"Hiccup? Wait!" Willow called out. She and Natalia followed, catching up to him.

"It's Hanna! She made some dumb decision, and now she's been captured by a tribe of vikings! I need to get mom, so we can go save her!"

"What tribe?" Willow growled.

"The Bloody Barbarians."

Both Willow and Marina growled. They had a long lasting rivalry with the tribe. "We're in."

"What?" Toothless asked with surprise.

"Don't you have trading duties?" Hiccup added.

"I've been good friends with Hanna for a while. Also, I'd like a good kick at that tribe. Plus, I've been meaning to take a break from trading, but I hadn't expected it to be so soon..."

Hiccup didn't decide to ask questions. He needed to get to Valka, and get back to the tribe as soon as possible.

"If you guys don't mind..."

"Hiccup, your sister's been captured! Of course we don't mind!" Willow roared.

Hiccup clicked the tail and he and his dragon shot forward.

They flew at top speed for the next half hour. Goldstar was not far behind, being that Scuttleclaws were very fast, but Willow and Marina had fallen behind. They were carrying a lot of weight, and Flightmares were significantly slower at top speed than Scuttleclaws and Night Furies.

Eventually, the ice spikes rose on the horizon. With their destination in sight, Hiccup and Toothless put on a burst of speed, with nothing except adrenalin.

They sped into the Sanctuary, startling leisure dragons.

"MOM!" Hiccup cried.

"VALKA!" his Night Fury roared as they sped across the Sanctuary.

"Whoa, whoa! Hiccup? Toothless? What's wrong?" The blue-violet Bewilderbeast asked.

"My Queen," Toothless stated, rather rushed, "Hanna and Stonescale have been captured by the Bloody Barbarians! We need Valka and Cloudjumper to help free them!"

"Oh, dear," The King surfaced next to them, "Valka just left. Said something about an emergency exploration mission. She said she couldn't wait for you and Hanna to return, and that she had no time to loose."

"What-"

"Direction? I think she said East, but she also said she could be gone for a few weeks. And, I have no idea how far out she is, or where she's going."

"Oh, this isn't good, this isn't good!" Hiccup exclaimed. "We need to go rescue Hanna, and we need more than a few dragons worth of firepower to do it!"

"Whoa!" the roar echoed through the Sanctuary.

Natalia and Goldstar flew through one of the openings into the massive ice chamber. They paused, to take in the view. They gazed around at all the colors, all the dragons, young and old. Then, they spotted two massive dragons, sitting in the pool, talking to Hiccup and Toothless.

"Hiccup, Toothless, this place is incredible!" Natalia exclaimed, flying over, "It's so beautiful here! And what breed are these?" she asked, referring to the King and Queen.

"They're Bewilderbeasts, but that's not important! Mom's not here!"

"But we are," a dragon squwaked. They turned and saw Stormfly, along with the rest of the gang, hovering a few feet away. "Don't worry," Stormfly assured, "we heard the whole story. At least, I did," she added, when the two Zippleback heads gave each other confused looks.

"Yeah, we're ready to go," Meatlug confirmed.

The Queen spoke up, "Are you sure Meatlug? Your eggs-"

"Will be just fine here. There are plenty of experienced Gronkle mothers scattered around here to take care of them for the day. And Blade's here, so he can keep a special eye on them."

"Meatlug?" Toothless warbled.

"Yeah?" she asked, feinting innocence.

"She laid eggs around noon today!" Stormfly exclaimed.

"Congrats!" Goldstar said.

"Who's she?" Barf not-so-subtly whispered to Belch, referring to Goldstar.

"That's right, it's nesting season!" Hiccup exclaimed, facepalming.

"Well... not yet, I laid early, but I'm sure they'll be okay," Meatlug said.

"Alright, well, as long as you're up to it. Hey! I've got an idea. King, Queen, perhaps one of you can come?"

The pair chuckled.

"We might be too much firepower. Us attacking a Viking village might leave more than short-term damage. Plus, we have to stay here and guard the Sanctuary."

Hiccup looked uncertain, but Stormfly told him, "They make a good point."

"Alright, well, we need to get going, Hanna and Stonescale are in trouble!" Hiccup said, growing impatient.

"Hiccup, calm down. With you guys, us, and Willow and Marina, we'll be enough to rescue Hanna and her dragon," Natalia told him.

Hiccup gave a nervous sigh, "I hope so. Alright, is everyone ready to go?" he turned to the gang.

They all nodded, except the Zippleback.

"I'm confused," Belch said. "What's happening?"

Goldstar spoke up, "Hiccup's sister and her dragon have been captured by Vikings. We need to go rescue them."

"Who's she?" The Zippleback whispered again.

"Oh, for the love of... You guys get to blow stuff up!" Hookfang roared angrily.

The Zippleback perked up. "When do we leave?"

"Right now," Hiccup said, turning.

"Hiccup," Natalia stopped him, "what about Willow and Marina?"

Hiccup looked at her, confused.

"They're not here. They'll need to set their trading bags down as well."

"Well, what on Odin's flat world are we supposed to do in the meantime?!"

"Hiccup! Calm down. We'll rescue Hanna. Trust me. As for right now... I have an idea," Natalia told him.

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"Alright... Hookfang, come here," Natalia beckoned the Monsterous Nightmare forward. Taking the red cloth she was holding, she tied it around one of his tail spines.

"There. Next?"

One by one, each of the dragons in the gang came up to Natalia. She tied the red cloth on them somewhere. On the red cloth displayed the insignia, and soon, each of the dragons in the gang bore it.

"There!" Natalia exclaimed when they finished. She stood back to admire their work, before turning. She gasped. "Whoa! How did I miss this?" she asked, gazing at the canvas that hung above an exit tunnel.

The canvas portayed Hiccup, Toothless, Hanna, Stonescale, and the rest of the gang.

"Did you do this?" Natalia asked Hiccup.

"Well, I drew it. Hanna helped with the painting."

"It's incredible. Is that Hanna?" she pointed to his sister's likeness in the painting.

Hiccup nodded.

"How can you guys fly so fast?!" a voice exclaimed. They turned and watched as Willow and Marina arrived in the room. They landed, and immediately, Willow began to take all of Marina's bags off.

"Alright, good. Can we leave now?" Hiccup asked impatiently.

"Calm down, Hiccup. We'll rescue your sister," Marina said as her rider finished taking off her bags.

"Yeah, now that Marina is so much lighter, we can fly much faster now," Willow told them.

Hiccup mounted Toothless, "Awesome. Is everyone ready?"

"Hiccup, can Marina get something to eat first?" Willow asked.

"Take all the fish you need."

A few minutes later, after Marina had eaten a few fish and a jug of her algae, the group of dragons and riders were in the sky.

"So, Hiccup?" Stormfly flew up to Toothless and his rider. "What's the plan when we get there?"

"Attack," Hiccup responded, "And take back my sister."

"Hiccup? Your sister won't be out in the open anymore. We'll have to find her first," Toothless warbled.

Hiccup sighed, "You're right, bud. We'll locate my sister and free her."

"And how do you suggest we do that, oh wise one?" Hookfang flew up and asked snarkily.

"I'm... Not sure yet..." Hiccup responded.

Toothless huffed, rolling his eyes.

"We could blow them up," Belch suggested happily, while Barf chuckled.

"Yes, because we'll be able to ask them where they're keeping Stonescale and Hanna once they're dead," Stormfly replied sarcastically.

Barf and Belch look at each other, confused.

Stormfly rolled her eyes, annoyed. She looked at Hiccup, "We should start thinking of where on the island you sister is being held, so we have a general idea when we get there of where to look."

Natalia nodded, "Good idea."

"When Marina and I were captured by the Bloody Barbarians, they locked us in their arena with the dragons they used for training," Willow said.

"Hmm... And that makes sense, too," Hiccup said, "because Stonescale would be able to break out of their regular jail."

Meatlug spoke up pessimisticly, "Unless they split them up, and put Stonescale in the Dragon pens and Hanna in the jail..."

Goldstar sighed, "Even if we do know where to look, how will we look. Seven dragons stomping around a Viking village isn't exactly stealthy..."

"I have a plan..." Stormfly said, "Hiccup, Willow, and Natalia. You three will walk into the village with some story to check out the Dragon pens or the jail. Once you find Hanna and Stonescale, we, the dragons, will show up and help you free them."

Willow spoke up. "I can't. The tribe would recognize me. This isn't the first run-in I've had with them... I can stay with the dragons and await your signal."

"And I can shadow you, and send up the signal once you've found them," Toothless warbled to his rider.

Hiccup smiled and rubbed his dragon's cheek. "Good idea, Bud."

Toothless beamed as his rider sat back up, the cold wind whipping through his hair. He turned and looked at the flock of dragons behind them. Willow and Natalia on their port and starboard flanks, and the rest of the gang fanned out behind them.

Hiccup turned back and gazed out over the water. They would get Hanna back. They had to.

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The Trader's a Traitor!
The Traitor's a Trader!

Or however you want to say it...

WHATTTT?!?!?!?!?!?

Bye!

¤Cloverpool¤