Fury (A How to Train Your Dragon Fanfiction)

Chapter 9: Caught

We reach Eret's boat before long. We hear them yelling to each other, readying their cannons frantically. I smirk. We're ready for them this time.

Nets fly through the air. Hiccup and I outmaneuver them and dive towards the ship, landing on the deck with a clatter. Eret walks over with a little bit of a swing in his step.

"And here I was worried we might turn up empty-handed," he comments.

"Nope. It's your lucky day," Hiccup says, holding up his hands. "We give up." Eret's crew exchanges confused stares. I sigh and raise my hands too. "That's two Night Furies; a real rarity, might I add. And..." He dismounts Toothless and tosses a net over my head. "...two of the finest dragon riders west of Luk Tuk. That oughta make the boss happy, right?"

I fight back a blush at his compliment about my dragon riding. He takes my knife, hands it to Eret, and escorts me past the men to the open holding cell in the bottom of the ship.

"Excuse us," he says, flashing them a smile. He glances back to me. "Ladies first."

"I'm trusting you right now, you realize that?" I ask in a soft tone.

"Yes. Yes, I do."

I climb down the ladder into the darkness of the cell. He follows. Toothless and Nightstar try to follow us, but Hiccup holds him back.

"Toothless, stay," he orders calmly. He looks to Eret and his trappers. "The dragons don't really care for cramped spaces, so they'll just hang out with you. They won't be any trouble."

Hiccup flips the latch, lowering the grate as Eret watches, confounded. Eret's men nervously point their weapons at our two dragons. They snarl.

"Unless you do that," Hiccup adds. "Wooden boat, big ocean. How's your swimming?"

"Not good..." one guy says sadly.

A burst of flame erupts from the cell, causing both me and the crewmen to jump back. Hiccup thrusts his Dragon Blade through the grate.

"Oops. Almost forgot. Can't have armed prisoners!" he says cheerfully. He retracts the blade and offers it up. A crewman cautiously takes it, looking it over. The pommel of the hilt expels green gas as he examines it. "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..." A curious crewman clicks the lighter, igniting the gas. Hiccup and I duck as the sudden explosion sweeps over the deck. "Oh, yeah, there you go!"

"Great going," I call.

Toothless and Nightstar paw at the embers, their eyes wide and rather adorable.

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

Toothless gurgles and falls over. Nightstar paws his tummy playfully.

"Give me that!" Eret demands. He snatches the Dragon Blade and hurls it overboard. Nightstar perks up and dashes after it. "What game are you playing?"

"No game. We just want to meet Drago," Hiccup answers.

Nightstar returns in a flash, dropping the weapon at Eret's feet like a fetching dog, tongue wagging. Eret throws it, frustrated. She returns with it just as quickly.

"Why?" Eret asks.

"Because I'm going to change his mind about dragons." Hiccup lifts the grate and steps out, looking confident.

Eret and his crew laugh loudly. I poke my head out, smiling pleasantly.

"He can be really persuasive," I add.