I'm Leaving Forever (a HTTYD Runaway Fanfic ~ Book 1)

23 - Help

Unlike the journey from Dragons Edge to the Defenders of the Wing, the time it took for Heather, Astrid and Fishlegs to reach Wingmaiden Island was significantly shorter. They had left first thing in the morning and it hadnt even reached midday when they had entered their waters. Heather was convinced that this could be done without any problems because the Wingmaidens wouldn't mind Astrid, what with her being a woman and all. Nor did she think they would hold much against Fishlegs. He was mature and sweet, so she figured that they would like him, and she knew that the Wingmaidens had become more tolerant over the years in which she had known them so they shouldn't really mind.

Upon arriving, Astrid and Fishlegs noted that there were at least five huts from what they could see. Each held up on platforms and all joined by suspended walkways and bridges. They were made from thick logs, shaped to fit the structure, and as they flew closer, the people on the bridges turned, indicating that they had been noticed. One stepped forward as Stormfly, Windshear and Meatlug lowered themselves so their riders could easily jump onto the bridge if they wanted. 

"Heather," one woman said, "I didn't think you would be here. Is everything alright?"

"I guess they could be worse, but no. We're not alright," Heather jumped down from her dragons back to stand in front of the woman and gestured for Astrid and Fishlegs to the same. Astrid was confident, but Fishlegs was a little hesitant before he finally made the jump. Heather began with a brief introduction of her friends to Atali and vice versa before filling her in on what had happened the previous day. By the end of Heather's story, all the other Windmaidens had gathered around with their respective baby Razorwhips and everyone had a similar expression on their faces. An expression of apprehension and worry for Hiccup and Snotlouts lives. 

"This is definitely a serious problem," Atali said to herself before turning her attention back to Heather, "Don't worry, Heather. Me and my Windmaidens will do what we can to help," The women behind her nodded and even the baby Razorwhips seemed like they were eager to help. 

"Thank you," Heather replied, "the rest of us are with the Defenders of the Wing. We'll wait here while you guys get ready," The three riders ended up waiting for only around fifteen minutes, and no one was left bored anyway because Heather had decided to give Astrid and Fishlegs a proper tour of the island, showing them everywhere in the time that they had. None of the Wingmaidens minded either. They had deemed the new riders decent people and they had noticed that they were incredibly respectful, so they weren't too concerned about their whereabouts. 

After the fifteen-minute wait, Atali and a few other Wingmaidens were flying beside the dragon riders. It had been a while since the two groups had last flown into battle together. Probably at least a few years, but for Heather, it was nice to do it again, even if the situation was far from ideal. And by the evening, the six had arrived at the Defenders of the Wing. A few greetings were exchanged between the two tribes before everyone put their heads together to come up with an efficient action plan to rescue Hiccup and Snotlout. And that efficient action plan had taken hours to formulate, which had drove everyone into the full darkness of night and left them exhausted. But now, at least all they had to do was execute said plan. Much easier said than done.

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Okay, he was a prisoner, but Snotlout wished that he would at least get a cell that had better conditions than this. Unlike other dungeons he had been in, this one wasn't on the surface of the island. There was a whole underground system in tunnels that he quickly learnt that weren't only supervised by guards. Underground-dwelling dragons like Whispering Deaths prowled the tunnels with trappers on their backs to make sure that they were keeping a vigilant eye on everything and werent slacking off at any time. But that wasn't the worst part for hm.