Dark Valkyrie

Twenty-Three: Found

Twenty Three: Found

Two Months Later:

The island was so small it barely registered on any maps, just a speck of wet rock, clinging to the southernmost limits of the Archipelago. The trader ship neatly sailed into the meagre harbour and moored as the few isolated inhabitants drifted towards the docks, interested to see what was happening.

"Ah-the lovely island of Back-of-Beyond! A jewel in the Archipelago's crown! I have so missed the chance to visit here these last five years!"

The less familiar shape of Trader 'Bernard' walked forward to greet the curious islanders with his trademark toothy grin, his arms wide in greeting and a twinkle in his eyes. The man-actually Tuffnut wearing a very unconvincing wig and beard-had observed Johann's success and modelled his manner on the older man, because the Riders had agreed that taking a leaf out of 'Traitor' Johann's book and playing the Trader was definitely the best way to slip around the Archipelago unsuspected. And he was loving his role to play and was hamming it up beautifully-with a lot of success.

"So can I tempt you with the exotic and fine wares that I have in my ship?" he continued cheerfully, his beard moving as he spoke, his shape still bent fastening the gangplank and inviting the islanders on board. There was a pause and then a handful of men and women began to walk interestedly onto the ship directed by his fellow trader 'Horace'-Ruffnut in an even worse beard and wig.

Below, their assistant glanced up through the hatch in the hold, his hand resting on his companion's head.

"Is she here, bud?" he asked softly and there was a pause as the dragon sniffed, then gave an affirmative warble. Large green eyes stared up into the familiar face and the young man nodded. "Okay, Toothless." The young man walked to the hatch at the back of the hull, carefully aligned so that it was invisible from the shore and lifted the latch. "Okay-you know the drill," he sighed. "Slip out and swim round the corner then meet me above the town..." The Night Fury nodded and reluctantly slithered through the hatch then vanished with a splash. Sighing, the young man closed and latched the hatch once more.

The villagers were crowded over the deck as he emerged, a floppy green cap concealing his auburn hair, a cloak round his shoulders as he carefully placed the goods he had brought up from the hold onto the pile and then slid lithely through the crowd and down onto the dock. Tuff winked once as he saw his friend head out once more-ostensibly to seek for provisions though the true nature of his quest was more serious.

Hiccup steadfastly walked up the muddy path, grimacing slightly as his prosthetic slid on the mire or got stuck, causing him to stumble. He hissed slightly, feeling the twist against his sensitive stump. The scars from his torture were still red and fresh despite the significant time that had passed since the events and walking was still a real chore but he had tried flying in before and the sight of a dragon in the sky had spooked her and she had escaped. So even though he suffered, he was determined not to alert her this time.

He had trudged round the muddy track out of town when the black shape of Toothless emerged from behind a pile of boulders, giving a little warble of greeting and the one-legged Viking embraced his dragon in relief. Obligingly, the Night Fury half-crouched and waggled his rear, obviously inviting the weary Hiccup to climb aboard. With a sigh, he shook his head.

"Much as I'd love to, bud, I don't wanna risk alerting them," he sighed. "We've been so close so often and she's always seen us coming and escaped." His emerald eyes hardened. "Which is why we didn't fly in today and instead got Traders Tuff and Ruff to bring us. Now we need to find Stormfly before Astrid can suspect anything and go missing again."