The Gentle Sniper

Chapter 8: Best Look Elsewhere

Hiccup sat beside Fishlegs as they rode across the dusty landscape in their Humvee. In the passenger seat sat Eret, and the driver's seat filled by a silent, brown skinned, moustached man with a rifle in his lap.

"How long do we still have to be here for?" asked the large blond haired man. It wasn't the first time he had done so.

"A week, Fishlegs, but you already know this."

"Sorry, but I miss Meatlug."

"We all have something to miss, Fishlegs. Asking how long we have to stay here won't help us get back home sooner. Get used to it," interjected Eret.

Fishlegs narrowed his eyes at him. "Forgive me for not wanting to be here."

The car started to slow immediately after those words were uttered. "That's enough, you two," said Hiccup.

"Another checkpoint. Great. Prepare to be patted down again guys," added Eret with an eye roll. Then he leaned forward suddenly. "Wait, what's that?"

"What's what?" Hiccup and Fishlegs asked in unison, as a car passed by on the left.

"I think I can see a dead dog on the ground up ahead; not far from us. Looks like it's a great dane."

Fishlegs paled after hearing those words. "That's not nice," he said with a shudder.

"Yeah, but at least we'll not have to think about it for long," muttered Eret, gazing ahead at the waiting checkpoint.

Then everything went white, a moment before they would have driven over the corpse of the unfortunate dog.

Hiccup jerked in his seat with a start, sitting up and looking ahead to meet Fishlegs' concerned gaze. He looked around and realized, to his relief, that he was sitting in a helicopter - a Eurocopter Fennec - with Gruffnut and Fishlegs the pilot and co-pilot respectively and Hiccup taking up one of the four seats behind them.

"You were thinking of the Helheim debacle again, weren't you?" the portly blond man before him asked.

"Yeah."

Fishlegs grimaced. "Alright, sorry if I startled you just now."

Hiccup waved him off. "It's fine. You didn't startle me. But it annoys me that I still remember it like that after two years."

His companion nodded. "Yeah-"

"Going to need you gentlemen to stop talking until we land, so I can concentrate," interjected Gruffnut, prompting Fishlegs and Hiccup to end their impromptu staring contest and look through the large windscreen before them at the island that was now in view; Outcast Island.

The landscape was a dark grey with the only green visible being a medium sized airfield at the center of the island. It was edged by concrete paving and a collection of dilapidated buildings of various sizes, all of which awaited the aircraft as it flew closer.

The helicopter then began to descend, before coming to rest on the airfield a minute later with a brief but sharp jolt.

"You up for joining the Draugr squad, Gruffnut? We could do with more people," said Hiccup, breaking the silence that had formed in the aircraft first.

Fishlegs and Gruffnut both looked at him oddly. "What? Our members are dropping like flies."

"That's not exactly a good selling point, Hiccup," commented Fishlegs.

"Well, what could I say instead? It's not like I can lie. Everyone knows about Ug, No-name, Teeny and Eret at this point."

"I'll do it," Gruffnut decided. "Sounds much more exciting than just doing training."