The Dragon Rider

Chapter 2 ~ Take Me To Drago

Hiccup flew lower and lower until he saw Merida's ship. He saw them spot him and Astrid and he flew further towards her, dodging the nets they sent flying in his direction, landing on the deck with his arms held up in surrender.

"And here I was worried we might turn up empty handed!" Merida grinned, holding Hiccup at the point of her long sword.

"Nope," he smiled, "it's your lucky day. We give up!"

Merida stared at him with her best Are you kidding me or has Thor blessed me today? face on.

"That's one Night Fury, one Deadly Nadder," he chucked a spare net over Astrid, guiding her to the storage hatch, "and two of the finest dragon riders west of Luk Tuk. That ought to make the boss happy, right?"

"What are you doing?" Astrid hissed, but Hiccup ignored her. Merida seemed equally confused.

"Toothless! Stay!" Hiccup held out a hand to stop the Night Fury following him as he disappeared beneath the hatch, "The dragons don't really care for cramped spaces, so they'll just hang out with you - they won't be any trouble." The dragon trappers, including Merida, drew their swords and spears as a precaution, causing the Night Fury and Deadly Nadder to react immediately, "Unless you do that," Hiccup grinned, peering out. "You know - wooden boats, big ocean, how is your swimming?"

A particularly nervous trapper with a fur hood mumbled:

"Not good."

 Hiccup chucked his fire-sword through the grate.

"Almost forgot. Can't have armed prisoners!"

A trapper picked it up, examining it cautiously. Merida looked at it, almost in wonder.

"Just what every dragon trapper needs. One end coats the blade in Monstrous Nightmare saliva. The other sprays Hideous Zippleback gas. All it takes is a spark and -"

BOOM. The trapper had flicked the lighter.

"Oh yeah, there you go!"

Toothless came over to nuzzle Hiccup who rubbed his chin as he continued.

"Once they see you as one of their own, even the testiest dragons can be trained. Right bud?"

"Give me that!" Merida snarled as she snatched up the fire sword, thowing it into the ocean. "What game are you playing?"

"No game. We just want to meet Drago."

The fire sword was back on the deck. Stormfly had fetched it; Merida gave the dragon the death glare before turning back to Hiccup.

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to change his mind about dragons."

"He can be really persuasive," Astrid smiled at him.

"Once you've earned his loyalty, there is nothing a dragon won't do for you," Hiccup rubbed underneath Toothless' chin as he looked up at Merida.

"You won't be changing any minds round here," Merida assured him with a shake of her head, her curls bouncing slightly.

"I can change yours," Hiccup offered, "Right here, right now." He pulled himself out of the grate and gestured to Toothless. "May I?"

But before Merida could answer, a certain Monstrous Nightmare had scooped Hiccup from the deck and carried him away.

"Dragon Riders!" Merida shouted and the trappers ran to their respective catapults.

"PUT ME DOWN! Snotlout! What are you doing?"