Two Birds

Chapter 3

A/N: So I decided to scrap the update schedule that I never did and just update every week.That means if I write two chapters in a week, then one of the chapters will be posted, and the other saved for the next week.

This week will be a double update this week in spirit of my favorite holiday, Halloween! Keep an eye out for the next chapter soon!

Hiccup's head was pounding something awful, and his entire body hurt. Had he fallen? Why? He felt stone underneath of him, but it wasn't the warm stone of the Nest. It was cold and damp. Where was he? Hiccup forced his forest-green eyes open, and the first thing he noticed it was dark. Unnaturally so. Was he in a cave? Where was Toothless. Hiccup couldn't smell his brother, in fact, all he could smell was the briny scent of the rock.

He tried to stand and his muscles screamed, and that's when the memories slammed into him. He had been captured! He was in a cage, alone, on a Viking island. Hiccup hunched his back, bringing his wings in close to him, and he whined. He was alone. Toothless had escaped, thank the Dragoness of the Moon. He had to escape, but how?

Hiccup rose to his paws again, this time starting to pace to loosen his protesting muscles. His head still swam, and he could feel dried blood against his temple. The Viking king-chief- had hit him with a hammer, and Hiccup could still feel the affects of the blow. His ears were ringing apparently, as with a rushing pop, a mass of sounds filled his head.

He could hear a Flame-Skin to his direct left, who sounded angry. He could hear the large dragon grumbling to himself and heard the click-click-click of his wing-claws on the stone. Just past the Flame-Skin, there was a Two-Walker chirping to herself nervously, singing some strange song. After that, he couldn't hear any other dragons, though he knew the cages were occupied from the night before.

From outside his cage, he heard the roaring of a mass of Vikings, many voices shouting and blending into one. One voice rose above the rest-still muffled however-and seemingly silenced the other voices. Hiccup cautiously crept to the door sideways, back arched, and pressed an earflap against the wood.

"Alright, alright, I bet you're wondering why we're holding the meeting here instead of the Mead Hall," what was a Mead Hall? Was it like the main cave of the Nest? Did the King- no Chief- Viking live there and the rest brought him offerings too?, Hiccup thought. He missed part of the next sentence, but he heard "Night Fury."

"What in the Dragon of the Sun is a Night Fury? Is it a type of weather?" He wondered outloud. He heard the Flame-Skin next to him laugh.

"It's what they call Shadow-Blenders," the dragon barked, sarcasm lacing his voice. "Damn Vikings either don't know our true species names or just don't care. They name us Flame-Skins "Monstrous Nightmares" for the Queen's sake."

"That's what they call us? Night Furies?" Hiccup shouted, shaking his head. "That's a stupid name if I've ever heard one."

"Woah-woah-woah-wait, you're saying you're a Shadow-Blender? The black one or the brown one?" The dragon next to him asked.

"The brown one."

"Hiccup? How in the Dragoness of the Moon did you get captured?" He heard the panicked screech of the Two-Walker from two cages over.

Hiccup tuned them out, and he pressed his head against the door again. He heard the trailing end of a sentence, "-do with it," before the crowd started shouting. "QUIET!" The Chief called, again silencing them.

Chapter 3 - The Plan

"Shadow-Blender," the Flame-Skin called, but Hiccup shushed him.