Yo, it's been a while... Really have nothing to say to excuse the late update. Didn't feel like anybody was interested at the time and took a break, but I got back. I don't know when's the next update gunna be but I will say that I have no plans of abandoning this fic! I will see this through and it will be finished one way or another!

Anyway, enjoy this and please leave a review.

Chapter Four

Defeats Sits with Revelations

"Oh, gods… I let it happen, I let it happen," Hiccup muttered from the entrance of the cave, fist itching to throw a punch at the stone wall he leaned on. For all his mistakes and missteps this had to be his biggest, so much more had been at risk and so much more could have been taken away all because he let it happen.

"Hey, you okay?" Astrid laid a hand on his shoulder.

Hiccup shook his head and walked up to face her, feeling her hand slid down. "No, I'm not. Astrid, I let it happen. I put Heather and Windshear in that position and now they're taken to gods knows where. I risked the Dragon Eye being taken. I fell for Viggo's plan." He let out a frustrated and regretful sigh, shoulders slumping as the burdens of his mistakes rested on them. "It's a mess."

He felt Toothless come up and rub his head against his hand to comfort him, but he felt that he didn't even deserve that. And instead of running his hand against the cool scaled like he would usually, he balled his fist until his knuckles were tight.

"You're right, it is." Hiccup shut his eyes tightly. It was different hearing it from her and made him more miserable. "But, if there's a mess, we clean it up. All of us. Together." His eyes snapped open and gazed wide eyed at her.

"We can get the 'A' Team from Berk, load up whatever weapons we can and go in, dragons blazing!" said Fishlegs, coming to stand next to Meatlug.

"Can I bring Macey? She's been begging to come along on a mission!" Tuffnut joined.

"No. No, we're not going anywhere. Nobody's going anywhere," Hiccup cut in. They all watched him in disbelief making him falter. "N-Not yet anyway. Think about it. We do what we do really well. We're a pretty smart group. We're fast, we're fearless and we ride dragons." He could see the rest starting to puff with pride and he almost hated to cut it off. "But this guy, Viggo, he manipulated us like we were a bunch of inexperienced little kids. If we have any chance against him, we can't go in, dragons blazing like we usually do…. That could get Heather and Windshear killed. That could get one of us killed."

"So you just want to leave Viggo to hunting and hurting dragons at will? You want to do nothing?" Astrid stepped up.

"I want to do the right thing," said Hiccup firmly. "And that it's going to take some thinking." He walked away from the group to his hut, his mind already concocting plans against Viggo and the other threat against them.

Heather slumped against the bars of her dragon proofed cage, feeling so weak and defeated. The mission ended in a disaster, she's stuck as a prisoner in enemy territory, her dragon was not beside her and brother's blowing words hurt more than they should have. Her knuckles turned white from how hard she clenched her fists, trying to stop from letting the tears fall.

A rapping from the other side of the cage made her jump, glare already poised to the figure at the door of her cage.

"What do you want," she growled, not bothering to hide the venom in her voice.

The Phantom stood with the light behind him, giving him a grim-like shadow that loomed over her. A plate of scraps was held in his right hand, from what she could see it held a thick bone with barely any meat and half a loaf of bread. He didn't say anything, she shouldn't really be surprised, and merely stepped closer, crouching and slid the plate through the gap, obviously for her.

"You won't get away with this, or Viggo, my friends will come for me!"

He stood and turned to walk away. His dismissal made Heather's anger bubble and she gritted her teeth to keep from screaming at him. Her hands instead wrapped around a sizable rock, consumed by her anger from the days' failures, she threw it to the Phantom and if she weren't so angry she would have been surprised when the rock hit his shoulder painfully, making him stumble, instead she felt a thread of satisfaction next to her anger.

The bounty hunter whirled around and braced himself against the cage, steel covered hands gripped the bars of the cage and he shook in anger that the bars rattled. Heather cowered as she heard his deep heavy breaths. In a flash, he sheathed a long blade that he held past the bars, the sharp tip poised over the gap between her eyes. Heather gasped, trying to step back but found that she was already pressed against the back of the dragon proofed cage.

"I-If Viggo finds me dead, he'll know it's you," she gulped, trying to be brave. "I'm not afraid of you."

The blade was steady, not even a quiver. It didn't move from where it was pointing its deadly tip, so close to leaving with a killing blow, but the blade lowered. Heather had only a second to clearly see the new weapon. Clearly well taken care of and sharpened, she was sure it could cut through scrap as if it were a spare bit of parchment. Her eyes caught the carving of something in its golden handle, a red gem at the handle that was encircled by a peculiar pattern of curves. She took a breath as the blade disappeared from underneath the cloak, stopping her observations and the Phantom crouched once again and took the plate from its place. He stood and stared her down, wordlessly speaking the words that hung in the air.

You should be.

He walked away, rounding a corner before disappearing from her sight. She watched him go with a glare before dropping down and curling her arms around her knees, trying to stop the pain in her belly as it rumbled in hunger. She'll get out of here. Her and Windshear.

He walked back to the camp, plate still in hand when a voice called from his far right. Ryker and the Berserker chieftain walked towards him, the redhead almost swaggering.

"Did you bring the food to the prisoner?" Ryker asked gruffly. His eyes caught the plate of measly food still in his hands and he glared at the Phantom. "I gave you orders you-"

He didn't get to finish as he abruptly threw the plate in the fire and walked past them. Ryker growled at his disrespect.

"Chatty little thing, isn't he?" Dagur mused, raising a brow. The bounty hunter had already disappeared, almost out of thin air, probably to scope out the base.

"He hasn't made a peep since day one. Got an idea that he got his tongue ripped out of his mouth," Ryker scoffed.

A hunter passed by with a plate for himself and Ryker snatched the plate from his hands, giving the hunter a menacing look when he opened his mouth to protest, making him quickly scurry away. He shoved the plate to Dagur, who barely caught it. "Take it to the prisoner. See that you follow orders better than that low-life."

Dagur began to protest but Ryker had already begun to walk away. He scowled and walked back to the cages. Heather sat curled in the corner, away from the cage door, almost invisible as she sat in the shadows. He watched her for a moment before dropping the plate and kicking it to slide past the gap, most of its contents spilled but the food was reachable. He clicked his tongue when she didn't even jump, turning away and missing the tears that flowed down her cheeks.

No one is irreplaceable.

Those were Viggo's words that kept repeating in Dagur's head. A rumble echoed around the cave as it shook from the battle above them. He looked over his shoulder, Heather followed him with blank eyes downcast. A pair of menacing dragon hunters followed from behind her. Dagur clenched his fists and turned to the group, pointing towards the next turn, which was blindly followed.

"Wait a minute.."

"This isn't what Viggo-"

Dagur grabbed both their heads and slammed them against each other. He let them fall on the cold floor with a scoff, "Too bad I no longer care what Viggo has to say!" Sharp green orbs found Heather, who cowered under his stare as she spotted the ax in his hand.

"Dagur- Dagur wait!" She lifted her hands to shield herself as he lifted the weapon and brought it down to free her from her shackles. She looked shocked that he almost laughed, but instead brought his fingers to his lips and gave a loud whistle. Her dragon came bounding and its rider gave a happy shout, meeting her half way with a tight embrace.

Dagur caught his sister's eye one last time, silently making a promise before dashing off deeper into the darkness of the cave. He hid behind one of the rocks as a flurry of hunters ran past, shouting orders that grew fainter as they ran deeper. His destination was two turns away until he reached the port where he would steal one of the ships. He skidded to a stop as he took the last turn, spotting a figure blocking his way to the port.

It was the Phantom.

"You better move out of my way if you know what's good for you," he warned, holding his blade in front of him.

The Phantom shifted and brandished his long sword with a quick flick of his wrist. The moonlight caught the deadly curve of its blade, it was almost winking at him in mocking. Dagur gave out his battle cry and charged to bounty hunter, ax raised. He brought it down with a deadly swing, but it was caught easily by the sword, it was stronger than it looked. He pushed away from his enemy, swinging his leg for a low kick, which was kicked away by another leg. Trying to regain his balance, he missed the quick jab of the Phantom's long blade to his shoulder. He cried out in pain, quickly laying a hand on the flesh wound. He spotted his blood already coated in his fine blade, but he saw his opportunity and ran to the dock, tumbling down as his foot caught on a rock. There was a tug on his tunic and a rip as he separated himself from the clutches of the Phantom.

Quickly, he boarded on one of the smaller ships, looking over his shoulder and spotted the Phantom standing on the entrance of the cave, never pursuing him the moment he escaped from him. Dagur sighed with relief, but his eyes caught the ripped fabric clutched in the Phantom's hand.

Dagur looked onward.

Hiccup didn't feel the sting of the cold wind or the concerned rumbling of his dragon companion, all he felt was the anger and the disappointment that settled in his stomach ever since they left Viggo's base. The Dragon Eye was gone. Snatched right out of his hands. A silver flash flew past him and he eyes Windshear and Heather. At least there were some victories to this, but the defeat was still great.

"I can hear you still worrying about it," Astrid said to his left as she flew closer with Stormfly. "We'll get it back Hiccup. We just need some time to rest and sort our heads back at the Edge."

Hiccup stayed silent but nodded to acknowledge her words. He gripped the straps of his saddle tightly, knuckles turning white. Toothless whined and Hiccup absentmindedly patted the side of his neck to comfort him. Next time, he'll play as Viggo wanted, only he won't know what will hit him.

The sun was just peeking over the horizon when Hiccup saw Heather fall behind. He caught her eye and she gestured to the small growth of an island for a conversation with him. He nodded, urging Astrid to keep going when she turned in question. They both landed, the dragons immediately resting on their bellies as they felt the weariness in their bones after the last night's mission.

"What is it, Heather?"

"I'm sorry, Hiccup," Heather said, eyes down cast.

"Heather, no, it's not-"

"No, Hiccup, just let me say it..." she sighed and Hiccup let her take a moment, feeling the tiredness settle in his bones. "I won't be joining you back to the Edge. I just need... I need some time to my self."

Hiccup was silent for some time as he stared at Heather, who fidgeted under his gaze. "Alright, okay... I understand, just please be careful."

Heather smiled softly, taking his hands in hers. "Thank you." Her eyes turned hard and serious, once more. "But before I leave, I need to tell you something..."

"What is it?" Hiccup was alert once more at her tone and he looked her in the eye.

"It's about the Phantom. When they locked me away, he came to send my meal and I saw his blade. It had a weird insignia at the handle, it struck something with me, it was familiar. And it wasn't until later until I realized where I've seen it," she said, and a haunted look entered her eye that greatly disturbed him. "Ryker said that the Phantom was for hire way back and that his boss is somewhere far away and that symbol was from the Blood Striders."

Hiccup felt his blood grow cold. "Are you sure? B-But they don't go past their borders to the Archipelago. They can't."

"I saw it with my own eyes, Hiccup. It was on his blade. He's from the Charybdis Chain and he's in league with them, so Viggo..."

"Has friends in high places," Hiccup said solemnly. There was no denying it, he couldn't just dismiss Heather's word for nothing. People from the Charybdis Chain were not somebody anyone wanted to come across. It's where every bad thing you could possibly think of was dumped. The most disgusting crimes, thieves, murderers, slave traders, that's where their kingdom is, a corrupt empire with the Blood Striders being the top dog. They had free reign over everything, they were basically the most elite, trained to kill anything and everything as long as you had the money. And Viggo does have what they're looking for.

"Be careful, Hiccup, please. Promise me," Heather's eyes turned desperate as it searched for confirmation from him. "You know what you're dealing with is dangerous, so please."

The Blood Striders were good at what they do because they always do the job, no matter what it takes. That's why they're so sought after when you want someone gone for good. Men, Women, Children, Beggars, Kings, or Dragons. It doesn't matter because they don't hesitate. There's nothing to lose, only gain. And if the Phantom is being sent after Hiccup, then...

Then they'll have to think again because Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III will not be going anywhere.

Hiccup nodded firmly, eyes hard with determination as he stared at Heather. "I promise, Heather. I'll be careful."

Heather searched for something in his eyes a moment more, and she seemed to have found it because she nodded and pulled back, heading to Windshear, who perked at the sight of her drawing near. She mounted her dragon and stared softly at Hiccup. "I'll see you around then."

"See you," he nodded and watched her take flight. He felt Toothless' warm head press against his side and he laid a hand on his head. Hiccup sighed heavily and mounted Toothless, taking into the air and followed the others, who must already be at the base.

"Oh, Toothless... what are we going to do?" Hiccup asked wearily. He received a soft whine in response.

Miles away, Dagur the Deranged dragged himself to the shores of the island, coughing out sea water and collapsing on the sand. The distant sound of the destruction of his ship reached his ear and he sat himself up just in time to witness his freedom drown and exchange it with the seal to his stranded state. He clenched his fists, feeling his nails digging into his flesh and let out a wild cry into the sky.

He'll pay.