WARNING: RACE TO THE EDGE SPOILERS!
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I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW FAR WE HAVE COME.
MY GOSH.
I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW FAR WE HAVE COME.
SERIOUSLY.
HERE IS THE SEASON FINALE OF "RACE TO THE EDGE FANFICTION SEASON: 2B", and I CANNOT BELIEVE IT, GUYS! YOU ARE ALL AMAZING, AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT! HERE IS CHAPTER 1 OF THE EIGHT CHAPTER SEASON FINALE! I LOVE YOU GUYS! ENJOY! :D
Heather and Hiccup landed Toothless on the platform and leapt off Toothless' back. Hiccup took off running into the Clubhouse, and Heather and Toothless raced after him. Hiccup threw open the doors and froze. The Clubhouse were empty. His friends and their dragons were nowhere to be seen.
"No!" he shouted, throwing down his sword and digging his fingers into his scalp, yanking on his hair. "No! We're too late!"
Heather looked around. "Viggo got here before us," she said. "He...he took them. All of them. I knew he would, Hiccup, I'm sorry. I should have told you."
Hiccup didn't answer for the longest moment, trying to get his breathing under control. "I know you never would have betrayed us through your own free will," he said. "It's okay, Heather. But we have to get them back." He turned to face her. "How did you end up with VIggo and the hunters, Heather?"
Heather sighed heavily. "Windshear and I were tracking undocumented islands," she said, "trying to figure out where the hunters would strike next. But Viggo found us at one of our stops. I made Windshear hide and faced him myself. He kidnapped me and used me as a bargaining chip to make Dagu sign a peace treaty between him and the hunters."
"That definitely sounds like something Viggo would do," said Hiccup. "Go on."
"Dagur doesn't trust Viggo," said Heather. "He doesn't want to follow the hunters, but he does, because if he doesn't, Viggo will kill me. Viggo talked to me a few days ago, told me that I had to give you these 'tests' to keep you distracted, while he went for Dragon's Edge. If I didn't listen...he would have killed Dagur."
"You did what you thought was best, Heather," Hiccup said, "and I honor that, but...you should have told us. We would've been able to help you. Viggo wouldn't kill Dagur. Viggo needs the Berserkers to up his armada."
"He needs the Berserkers," said Heather, "not Dagur. If Viggo killed Dagur, the Berserkers would follow him out of fear for their very lives. Killing Dagur wouldn't make a difference."
"So it wasn't an empty threat," said Hiccup, and Heather nodded. "Where is Dagur now?"
"He has no idea about all this," said Heather. "All he knows is that Viggo is having me run a little errand for him while he and the hunters attacked the Edge. Dagur doesn't know anything about Viggo's plan."
Hiccup sighed. "This is all so messed up," he moaned dropping himself onto a nearby bench and putting his head in his hands. .
Heather watched him for a moment, and then, she pulled something out of her satchel and handed it to Hiccup. It was a scroll sealed by wax with the dragon hunter's insignia engraved in it.
"This is your last scroll," Heather said, holding it out to him though he didn't take it. "Viggo didn't let me see what was on it, but he told me to give it to you, after the last task was over."
Hiccup finally took the scroll, snapped the seal, and opened it. He read it out loud for Heather to hear.
"'You fell into my trap,'" Hiccup read lowly. "'By the time you read this, we would have attacked your base and taken your friends. If you ever wish to see them again...you must present the Dragon Eye to me, and I will free your friends.'"
Hiccup swallowed thickly. "And there's another riddle," he said. "The place he wants me to meet him."
"Where is it?" said Heather.
"'On an island of stone, with a path barely known, your friends will be found, on the highest of ground. The Eye of the Dragon must be returned, and the freedom of your friends will be earned. For your friends you would give your very last breath: but peace can only be found in death. After three moons have crossed the sky, present yourself or your friends will die.'"
Hiccup narrowed his eyes in fury and tore the scroll in half, crumpling both pieces between his hands. "Toothless, plasma blast," he said, throwing the note to the ground, and with a blast of purple light, the scroll was reduced to ash.
Heather swallowed hard.
Hiccup looked up with determination. "We're getting them back," he said, and he stood, making towards Toothless. "If Viggo wants the Dragon Eye, I'll give him the Dragon Eye. My friends mean more to be than some stupid artifact."
He leapt onto Toothless' back, and at the last minute, remembered Heather. He looked back at her. "You coming?" he said.
Heather sighed. "I don't know," she said. "Maybe it'd be better for you all if I just left again…"
"Heather, come on!" said Hiccup. "You're still our friend. You're still one of us! Come on. We'll get the Dragon Eye, rally up the Changewings, go get Windshear, and meet Viggo."
"But where does Viggo want us to meet him, Hiccup?" said Heather. "The clues weren't exactly specific."
"I know where he wants us to go," said Hiccup. "A path barely known, and island of stone, high ground...they're talking about Dark Deep. The ancestral home of the Gronckles. And we're going to get the dragons, and we're going to face Viggo. Together."
Heather swallowed, and then, she smiled softly. "You've always been like a brother to me, Hiccup," she said.
Hiccup smiled. "You in, then?"
Heather nodded and smiled with determination. "Yes," she said. "I'm in."
…
Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Astrid, Snotlout, and Fishlegs were locked away below the decks of the dragon hunter ship, dragon-proof bars trapping them inside. Astrid looked outside, watching the guards; she watched them swap positions, leave for a time, and return just as quickly.
"Any luck on the guard schedule?" asked Fishlegs, stepping up behind her.
"Nearly there," said Astrid. "They have two periods of fifteen minutes where they go and swap out. We can escape then if we can just get out of these bars…"
Ruffnut and Tuffnut were playing hangman in the dirt scattered on the floor of their cell. This cell was definitely filthier than their last one; compliments of Ryker, Astrid assumed.
"Does it have an H in it?" Tuffnut asked.
"Um...I don't know," said Ruffnut, frowning. "Hey, Astrid! Does the word 'tyrant' have an H in it?"
"Idiots…" muttered Snotlout, crossing his arms angrily over his chest. "What does Viggo even want with us? It's not like Hiccup's just going to hand over the Dragon Eye, is it?"
"Um...that's where you're wrong, Snotlout," said Fishlegs pointedly, but not without concern ebbed deep in his voice. "See, remember when Dagur took Gustav? Hiccup gave up the Dragon Eye without so much as a second thought to set Gustav free."
"The guy's too stupidly noble for his own good!" said Tuffnut angrily. "Hmm...let me think...is the word 'tyrant'?"
"How did you know!?" gasped Ruffnut, and she kicked the half-hanged stick figure on the ground, ruining their game. "Yeah, well, Hiccup had better not show up. If he does-"
"Guys, we've been through this before!" said Astrid. "Seriously! We've been kidnapped by Viggo and Ryker tons of times by now, and it's always the same deal! Lure Hiccup in! Take the Dragon Eye! Kill Hiccup! Fail to kill Hiccup! Honestly! Why are you guys even bothering to ask questions anymore?"
Ruffnut and Tuffnut exchanged glances. Then, they looked up at Astrid, along with Snotlout and Fishlegs.
"This is Viggo's end game," said Astrid, putting her hands on her hips. "This is his big plan. It has to be more than just getting the Dragon Eye. It's much more than just getting the Dragon Eye back. If this really is Viggo's end game...I think it involves killing Hiccup."
"All Viggo's plans have involved killing Hiccup," said Snotlout flatly. "Why would this one be any different? Hiccup will just be his usual brilliant self and talk his way out of total obliviation. No problem."
"But this is Viggo's end game, Snotlout," said Fishlegs, "which means Viggo plans to end everything, for good. He means to kill Hiccup. He has a plan. Luring Hiccup here, getting the Dragon Eye, and getting rid of his first ever worthy adversary. It's…" He swallowed hard. "It's the perfect plan."
"And unless Hiccup figures out what Viggo wants to do," said Astrid, turning away from her friends and glancing outside; the guards had returned, standing sentinel around each of the doors.
"Unless Hiccup figures it out," said Astrid, swallowing hard, "I...I don't know what's going to happen."