AH, HERE WE GO. THE SECOND CHAPTER. SORRY TO KEEP YOU GUYS WAITING. PLEASE FORGIVE ME, I WAS A BIT OTHERWISE ENGAGED.

AHEM, ANYWAY, WE ARE HERE. THE ALTERNATE VERSION TO WHAT HAPPENED IN THE FIRST CHAPTER.

LETS SET THE PREMISE : HICCUP MANAGES TO BE A BIT MORE LOGICAL AND SETS ASIDE HIS STUBBORN FOOLISHNESS. DOING SO, HE AND TOOTHLESS EVADE THE FINAL WAVE OF ARROWS AND LEAVE. BOTH WILL RETURN, OBVIOUSLY, BUT IT WOULDN'T BE THE BEST PLAN OF ACTION. THE HUNTERS DON'T, AND WON'T, GIVE UP.

THEREFORE, HE GOES TO THE ISLAND WHERE THE SCREAMING DEATH LIVES, SNEAKS IN, AND GETS THE SHED SCALES AFTER HE MEETS UP WITH THE WHISPERING DEATH MOTHER.

HE STITCHES UP THE SCALES THE BEST WAY HE CAN, AND RETURNS.

ON THE OTHER END, RYKER HAD SLOWED DOWN THE FLEET TO MAKE SURE HICCUP AND THE NIGHT FURY CAN CATCH UP EASILY. HE WAS AURE THAT NIGHT FURY RIDER WOULD RETURN, AND HE WILL CATCH THAT DRAGON.

ONWARDS:

SECOND VERSION:

"Are the prisoners secured?"

"Yes, boss, they are locked up. We have also removed all other dragons and guards from the holding cells of this ship. No way they are getting out of there."

"And their dragons?"

"Moved to the other ships. Just like you said sir - four dragons, four different ships. It would be impossible for the Riders to escape and rescue their dragons this way."

"I need the dragons sedated at all times. No need to keep them awake. Lesser problems."

"Aye, sir."

"Good. Dismissed."

Ryker turned around and looked ahead. It was getting really dark, and the ocean surface was hardly visible.

The fleet had stopped for a few hours. Normally, they don't stop, even in the night. They have different shifts of sailors and Hunters for that. Still, some work had to be done.

During this stop, he had ordered his men to move every dragon of the Dragon Riders from this ship to the others. Its a great plan, seeing that if the Riders do somehow escape their cell, their rides out of the ships would not be there for them. Not only were the dragons out if it due to sedation, they were all in different ships. If the Riders figure that out and jump, and go up another ship and access the holding cells, they will only find one dragon. All of this was for after them actually doing all that, which was way too far fetched in itself in the first place. Also, the dragons were out cold, so no hearing of the teenagers' distress calls and burning down everything.

This was planning in advance. Viggo always made fun of his not-that-smart big brother, right? Well, he would have to be impressed by this.

Snickering to himself ever so slightly whilst staring out at the vast nothingness in front of him from the bridge of his flagship with an elbow on the railing, Ryker reveled in the chaos and discord he had caused in the amateur teenage-rebellion-type group of Dragon Riders.

This is what he lived for. Trapping dragons had become way too easy as of late, and challenges like this was what made him all the more invigorating. This was all too good!

"Done, sir! All the tasks you had asked us to do are completed. Shall we raise anchor?"

It was the same person, the second in command who given him feedback a while ago.

"Yes. Set sail. We continue on our original course. However, continue at lower speeds like before. We want that Night Fury before we make to port now, dont we?"

"Aye aye, sir. SET SAIL, RAISE THE ANCHORS. PROCEED ON THE INITIAL SEA ROUTE."

Many shouts of 'you heard the man', 'get going, you worthless muppets' and stuff of the same-ish calibre were heard. Within minutes, they were underway again.

Ryker left the deck and went down below to the feeding hall. Heather and Dagur were waiting for him there.

"I am going to question the Riders. You two can join me, or not - doesn't matter. You, girl, gather two men and go to the holding cells. Get that short annoying boy and bring him to my office."

"You think I need two men to-"

"Well, guess what, I don't trust you two enough. That, and you can never be too careful. Now, if you have asked enough questions about your insecurities, pray do what I ASK YOU TO DO!"

Turning to Dagur:

"Does your highness have any other questions? If not, get to work."

He didn't wait for a reply as he strode off to his office. If he heard a slow mutter of 'I hate thet guy', he ignored it. He had heard it way too many times to care by this point.

Things went slow after this. He had made it clear that the blonde girl had to come in last. So, Heather made three trips to bring in Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins to Ryker. Yes, the twins came in together, and no number of hunters could pry them apart.

Ryker mostly remained silent while the Berserker siblings grilled each rider for the excess of an hour. No one talked other than making snide and derogatory insults, but that was completely okay with Ryker. After all, he had an outstanding endgame planned.

Well, outstanding for Ryker anyway.

"Bring in the blonde. It's time we got some real answers around here."

Heather paused, but only for a millisecond, before leaving Ryker's office yet again. She didn't make any depreciating harrassments while leading Astrid to Ryker's office - something that Astrid was quick to pick up on, but didn't mention anything. Probably due to two crossbow laden guards escorting the two girls.

Heather knocked on Ryker's door once, and opened the door when prompted too. Yet again, when Heather held Astrid's hand in a vice like grip before letting go, she didnt say anything.

Dagur and Ryker were waiting inside. Dagur looking maniacally happy, as usual, and Ryker actually looking tired, uninterested and stoic. Who knew extracting information from someone was debilitating for someone like Ryker!

Anywhoo, Astrid stood before the huge desk, looking at Ryker with an intense disparaging and cold blue gaze. Normally people she knew would run for protection when she would give this look, Ryker didn't look a dime perturbed. In fact, Astrid swore that the edges of the man's lips twitched up a bit.

Still, one could always count on Dagur to break uncomfortable silences with his brand of zany Berserkedness.

"Well, let's do this - YET AGAIN. Right. Well, Astrid, we are the-"

"I know you are the bad guys. Get on with it, I still have to plan our escape."

"OHHH, YOU ARE NOT GOING ANYWH-"

"Easy, brother. Calm down. You had a long night without sleep. Please don't go crazy now. I can't undergo any more of your tantrums. My headache won't go down whatever I do anymore!"

"Sorry, sis. You know lack of sleep really gets me when people are RUDE!"

Heather sighed, and looked at Astrid, who was loking bored.

"Astrid, we have one main quest-."

"Nope."

"SEE WHAT I MEAN, SISTER?"

"EASY, brother. Astrid, don't make things worse for yours-"

"Do it. Make things worse. Not like I care anyway."

"Astrid, please. Where is the Dragoneye?"

"Do you actually thing I am going to say that Heather? To YOU, of all people? And here I thought you were actually smart."

"Please don't make this hard, Astrid. You have no chances of escaping. You cannot break out of here."

"Have you forgotten that we have dragons, Heather? Once we gain access to our drago-"

"Pray tell me, Astrid - how are you gonna accomplish that? You walked past all of our holding cells on this ship. It's not like we have any hidden compartments or anything. Did you see your dragons?"

Astrid's eyes opened up wide in surprise, as her jaw slacked. Then, Fury took its place. Complete with narrowed eyes swearing bloody murder and fists tightened up enough to punch through rock.

"What did you do to them?"

"They are fine, Astrid. They are okay!"

"WHAT DID YOU D-"

This was probably the end limit of Dagur.

"ARE YOU ACTUALLY DAFT, BLONDIE? MY SISTER JUST SAID THAT WE HAVE DONE NOTHING WITH YOUR DRAGONS!!!"

"Brother-"

"No, sis. NO one shouts at MY sister."

Heather's expression changed from chaotic to an unimpressed are-you-kidding-me look. She shook her head quickly and turned to look at Astrid.

"Forgot who I was talking to. Look, your dragons are safe. They are just a bit ... out of reach."

"Where are they?"

"They are not on this ship."

"So WHER-"

"CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND, ASTRID? THERE IS NO ESCAPING THIS PLACE! NONE OF YOU CAN!"

Well, Heather finally looked irate.

"Astrid, listen to me. Tell us what we wan-"

"Go boil your heads. All of you."

Heather looked completely defeated now. Well, she tried.

Dagur, however, was another case. He finally withdrew his axe.

"Say that again, blondie."

"If you call me blondie on more ti-"

"Okay, that's enough. All of ye."

Way to go, Astrid. You finally pissed off the big guy.

"You two just can't interrogate. You two are just as amateur as these idiots."

"You take that back, Rykey-"

"Leave. Both of ye. I'll interrogate this little brat MYSELF."

Nail to the coffin - that's what this last statement was. Astrid looked affronted at being called a brat, but when she turned around and saw Heather, she saw a pleading face asking her one question - why? That look went away as quickly as it came, but it was able to, for the first time since her interrogation started, implant a seed of doubt and fright.

"B- but Ryker-"

"Leave, girl. Oh, and send in the guard at the door while you leave. Dismissed."

None of the siblings asked any more questions as they left quickly. A second later, a guard dressed in the trademark dragon skin uniform came in and stood in attention.

"Lock the door from the outside, and don't let anyone in. Unlock it only after I tell you to."

The guard took one look at his boss and the now apprehensive blonde girl and left without comment. He closed the heavy door, and a resounding metallic click was heard just after.

Utter silence stretched for a minute or so, in which Ryker kept an eye on Astrid. The girl herself was fidgeting a bit, not knowing where to look and being a little more cautious every second.

The big man finally smirked and got up. He headed around the table to the front, and leaned on it. Both were staring at each other intently. Finally:

"Gotta say, you and yet friends are way more resilient than many others. And a bit insubordinate and rude."

"Rude and resilient are self-explanatory here. As for insubordination, tell me; why should will ever listen to you?"

"Why? It's easy enough. We have both you and your dragons locked up. Both parties are easy to get rid of. Your dragons will make us a lot of profit, but you Riders are just dead weight. Something tells me you do not want to die. Oh, and come daybreak, we will have that boy and the Night Fury."

"They are not that easy to catch. They evaded you and your arrows."

"Once. Just the one time. It will be hard, yes, but not impossible. We have trapped and hunted quite a few dragons - all varying in shapes, sizes and lethality. Unless it's night, that dragon won't be a problem. It will stick out like a mole on a nose in daylight."

Astrid's eyes twitched.

"Where is this ship taking us?"

"Seeing that you found us, you should be knowing that answer."

"The nearest dragon port? What use will we be to you?"

"Every person has a use. Each and every one. I mean, they are good dragon fodder if not anything else."

Astrid shuddered. Ryker smirked again.

"Girl, look. Tel m-"

"My name is Astrid. Astrid Hofferson. It's not 'girl', or 'blondie'."

"Fair enough. Astrid, where is the Dragoneye?"

"Like I said, why would I say it to you?"

"To save your friends and dragons."

Astrid pursed her lips, but didn't answer.

"Very well. We know that the Dragoneye is on the Edge. I mean, where else could it be? You stole it from us, and are using it against us."

"Even if it was on the Edge, which I'm not saying is true, how are you going to find it? The Edge is a big place."

"Hasn't stopped us ever before. We have more than enough men and ships. We will comb through the entire island if we have to."

"Yes, but what about the rest of the Riders? We have a thousand riders, and they will never let yo-"

"You are housing a thousand Dragon Riders in a botchy settlement consisting of five houses, one common house and a dome? Have you taken us for fools, girl?"

Well, Astrid was taken aback a bit. She was NOT expecting that.

"Dagur told us everything, girl. Lying to us won't do you any good. Don't be a brat, and tell us what you know."

"What I know is that we have backup. Ask your best friend about it. He would know that his attack on the Edge was botched by us. Over a hundred ships of hi-"

"Do you normally do this? Stretch everything out and make them overdramatic? We know he had no more than ten ships, and we know that backup team is from Berk. It took you a day to get backup, and the only reason you could hold it off was because Dagur was the one who was attacking. Less ships and men, and all of them cowards. Mark my words, girl - if we go there, then we will take a hundred ships if necessary."

Astrid didn't say anything.

"We don't do things in your fashion - half assed and instinctive actions. We do it properly. Now, where is the Dragoneye?"

"I am not saying anything. Do whatever you have to."

Ryker looked unimpressed. Then, he suddenly laughed loudly and maliciously.

"Oh, I will."

With that, he turned around and headed for a closed cabinet nearby. He opened it to reveal several torture items - whips, ropes, clamps, and several spiky metal things.

"I am an old school guy - beat 'em up if you want information. I am happy that you have kept your piehole shut till now. People normally give us any information we want just like that. We haven't had to ... extort anything from anyone in ages."

Ryker looked back at a now pale Astrid with an evil lopsided smile.

"I'm gonna enjoy this immensely."

Astrid backed away, reaching towards the door. She looked around - while there were many weapons in the room, none of which were much to her use.

"No..."

"Oh, yes. Scared? Wanna talk?"

"N-never."

"Ah, this just gets better and better. Come here, you little bitch."

"DON'T COME NEAR ME OR TOUCH ME! LET ME GO!"

"Ah, now why would I do that?"

Astrid turned and pounded on the door.

"Open up! Let me out of here!"

No one answered. Then, a sudden pain in her scalp. Ryker had grabbed her braided hair roughly and was dragging the struggling girl back to the middle of the room.

"Let me GO, you fucking bastar-"

SLAP.

It was a very powerful palm that made contact with her cheek. The force was so great that she spun and fell down.

"Finally. Name calling, eh? A brat through and through."

He grabbed her hair again and pulled her up, then punched her in the gut. HARD.

Astrid saw stars after that. While it was true that she had punched many people in the gut (a certain black haired kid got 'em more than anyone else), she had never been on the receiving end. That, and this was really powerful. She doubled over on her knees, groaning in pain. A LOT of pain.

"That should stop you. For now, of course."

He quickly went to the cabinet and took out various lengths of rope. He then went back to Astrid and dragged her to a wall by her hair. The wall had various metallic hoops attached at various heights. Ryker first took four ropes and tied them around her wrists and ankles. He then lifts her with one hand and ties her wrist ropes to hoops higher up.

By the time he was done with the upper ropes, Astrid's pain had lessened enough for her to move her limbs enough. She quickly wrapped her legs around Ryker's now lowered neck - or at least, tried to. He had crouched to tie one of her ankle ropes when her other leg wrapped around hie head. It was probably the best she could do, seeing the wierd angle.

Ryker just sighed and pulled the leg off him after he had tied the other leg. He then fastened the other one and stood up. Before anything else, he punched her stomach again. Another painful groan emanated from her.

A pitiful sight, really - THE Astrid Hofferson hanging limply on a wall of a Hunter ship, clearly in a lot of pain judging by the ugly grimace on her face.

She hadn't cried yet, though. Something Ryker noticed too.

"Not enough, eh? You are tough; I'll give ye that."

Astrid couldn't say anything, so just resorted to hissing, and spat on his face.

"Fair enough, time to one up things."

After wiping his face, he went to the the cabinet and retrieved various torture item. He laid them out on the floor, one by one - probably for Astrid to see. She did see them, and writhed with all her might. The ropes, of course, didn't give in.

"You really are fiesty, aren't ye?"

"Fuck you! Let me go!"

"Of course. Tell me where the Drago-"

"I'm NOT telling you ANYTHING!!!"

"So much loyalty for some dastardly beasts, girl."

"Those dastardly beasts are way better than you! You are a selfish murderous monster!"

"Gotta be a monster to fight monsters, girl."

"YOU ARE THE MONSTER! YOU AND ALL OF YOUR BRUTISH LACKEYS ARE MONSTERS! LET ME GO!"

"Not very well versed in negotiations, are you? Those work both ways, just like you need two hands to clap. You have something to offer, but you are not exactly offering it. I really need that Dragoneye; it's literally our property and heirloom. You stole it and are acting as if you own it. Face the music, girl. Give it to me-"

"I won't be negotiating with barbarish brute like you!"

"Fine. Suit yourself."

With that, he hooked his fingers inside the collar of Astrid's top, and pulled hard. The clothing item tore in two - all stitching ripped al the two sides. Within a second, the top half of the girl was bared completely leave for the breast bindings.

Astrid screamed, but Ryker gave it no mind. He quickly ripped off her shoulder guards.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"Are you blind? What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Yo- You... I'LL KILL YOU!!!"

"If you survive, that is. Remember, you are the one tied up to my wall, not me. YOU are at MY MERCY."

Astrid grit her teeth, but said nothing. Ryker took advantage of it and tore off her shirt and leggings. After this, only clothing to remain intact and on her body were her undergarments, vambraces, and boots. And the headband, though is it clothing?

All of them were thoroughly frisked upon arrival. So, there were no secret daggers Astrid could use.

Ryker had the audacity to whistle. Leaving Astrid's forearms, she was pretty much perfect everywhere else. White and continuous pure canvas like skin. No abrasions or injury marks anywhere. Scare were only prese t on the exposed parts of her skin - those being her arms. Rest was all completely untouched, clean and pure.

"Have to say this, Astrid Hofferson. You may be thick headed and hot blooded, but you are a beautiful wench. Such beauty and perfection everywhere. Pity, really,. Because when I am done with you, not an inch of that blank canvas of you skin will be spared."

Astrid could only whimper. She seemed to understand that if she said anything she wanted to, Ryker would worsen things.

And finally, she let her eyes mist. Tears started to form when she thought about how unfair and bad all this was. She was in deep trouble. But, she had taken an oath to stand by dragons at all times, so she couldn't give the Hunters any sort of information. She couldn't afford to give up the dragon eye. She wouldn't give up on dragons.

Peace between humans and dragons had finally reigned after almost four hundred years. There was no way she was giving these fiendish Hunters the map to every dragon out there.

She will take all this torture in stride. For the dragons, and the Dragon Riders.

Ryker, oblivious to all this, picked up his whip. It was a really long one, and very thin. It will hurt a lot when being struck by that.

"Last chance. Tell me where it is."

"Well, I'm telling you for the last time. I'm never gonna tell you that."

"Well, I'm glad. You just became an official bitch in my list, and full permission to break you completely. I won't feel bad at all after I do. Thank you."

And with a resounding crack, the first lash hit Astrid right across the chest and belly.

She screamed at the top of her voice.

It felt like as if someone had ripped oven her front; it was wayyy too hurtful. The impact line was visible - a long line from where blood was oozing out copiously. The skin and been split apart, and the abrasion ran quite deep. It was incredibly painful. She was in more pain that she had ever experienced in all of her life. Tears started to flow freely now.

That pain didn't resonate to Ryker, because there was another crack right after.

This went on for some time. He used every sort of torture item he had - metal spikes, needles, knifes, and more. He even pulled off her boots and pulled off her nails using a special set of pliers. It had hurt a lot - well, every torture type hurt. Every time anything made contact with her skin, it was to impart abundant amounts of pain to her.

Ryker kept asking her about the Dragoneye, but she didn't budge. One more thing was clear too - Ryker wasn't doing this to extract answers, no. He was scarring her far more. It was way more sinister.

After atleast two hours of torture, she finally had no energy to stay awake. She was about to black out before a splash of extremely cold water roused her. It was so cold that it stung before it's coldness was registered by Astrid's nerves. Harmful, but efficient.

"Don't black out on me, girl. You still have to tell me where you insolent little leeches have hidden OUR Dragoneye."

"I... would... NEVER!"

It was apparent that Astrid had poured all of her hate and venom in that one word. Even Ryker was astounded by her tenacity by this point. It was simply amazing how strong her mind's constitution was.

"Fine. Let's do this then. If that's how you want to play this, that's fine by me. Let's get this over with."

He threw away the last bloodied whip. All his torture instruments had Astrid's blood on them. Which also implied that she had lost a lot of it, and was now struggling to stay awake.

Ryker, though, seemed to be having the time of his life.

"Time for the endgame event."

With that statement, he hooked each one of his hands inside the edges of her undergarments, upper and lower. With equally powerful tugs on both handsz he ripled them apart, and she was completely and irrevocably bare.

Undergarments, like Astrid wore, were made of a very long strip of cloth wound round and round many times over her forbidden parts. While it took a lot of time to wear and to take it off, it gave a lot of structural integrity. It was hard to rip off like Ryker did. This is also a testament to the amount of raw strength he possessed.

None of this was noticed or cared about by Astrid, who was suddenly wide awake after noticing how entirely nude she was. While she had endured hours of pain and torture, this was compltely different. She had been afraid of this, but she had never thought it would happen. Was she really going to be...

"Wh-what are y-you doing?"

"A bit of ... 'insertive investigation'. The type that will affect you more than a boy, anyway. Funny, really, how your villages care a lot more about girls' virginities than boys. How things get crazy when unmarried maidens are found to be ... whores. Heh, I presume that if your villagers found out that someone like you is not what they thought to be, there will be a village wide scandal."

He seemed to have understood that Astrid was held in high regard in her village. Probably due to her fearless confidence and don't-care-about-the-consequences attitude. She also doesn't seem to mess around anything at all.

Probably also the reason why he had presumed that this girl was a virgin. He had not gotten this I-am-independant vibe from that twin girl after having caught and interrogated her. Sure, that girl had a bad attitude and the worse insults, she was too much of a problematic wackadoodle to be a leader like this girl. Both were very violent, but this one had a bigger say and sway in the group. While he did not know if Ruffnut was a virgin, he didn't risk it- Astrid was a much better choice anyway.

Anyway, Ryker was answering while looking at her newly uncovered body parts. Whip marks had not reached through the tough cloth fibres, so other than being a little red, there were no signs of physical injuries inside the outlines of where her underwear were previously situated.

"I have to say, you really are one beautiful art of a human. I really would have preferred to have not done all this to you. But you insisted on me doing this. Still..."

Astrid couldn't believe that it was actually happening. This was beyond brutal. If he did this, every shard of respect she ever had would be gone forever.

So, she gave one last mighty tug at her ropes. Not only were the ropes still strong and solid, her overall strength had fallen rapidly too due to excessive blood loss.

For Ryker Grimborn, it was just a small straining sound, and a groan of utter defeat. The ropes didnt even stretch.

"You aren't leaving now. Not after this."

He started to paw at her breasts. His hands were too big and coarse. Her breasts, of course, were small, supple and smooth. It was extremely unvomfortable. Her nerves had almost bunkered down after that beating, but now it felt as if every nerve was working overtime. Too much hatred and feelings of violation were flowing through her, but she could do absolutely nothing.

He then shifted one hand to her folds. Those were completely cold and dry. Ryker huffed.

"You better be aroused and ready, girl. If you are not, it will hurt even more. You might even enjoy it if you do!

"Ne-never."

Ryker sighed.

"Your loss."

He let go and pulled down his pants. His erection was standing ready, and while it wasn't massive, it was still quite big. Fresh tears started to appear in Astrid's eyes at the sight of the thing that will defile her.

What had gone wrong? What had she done to deserve this? Why was this happening to her? Even her tear sacs had dries out by now due to excessive crying, but tears materialized nonetheless after seeing what the situation was leading to.

Ryker paid no mind as he lined his erection to her opening.

"Should I even bother asking you anymore? Will you tell me where it is? Save whatever dignity you have left? This is literally your last chance to save your face in that trash village of yours."

She couldn't say anything. She whimpered and cried.

"If I had people half as pertinacious as you working for me, we would have had a lot more success and would have been way more richer. Still, be as stubborn as you want. It's all the better for me anyway."

And with one sharp thrust, he was at least halfway inside her.

While Astrid had endured pain of much more magnitude in the past hours, the pain of her hymen breaking stung a lot more. Those lacerations from earlier pained a lot, yes, but this was way more permanent and ingraining on her conscience and body. Losing one's virginity was an act supposed to be done with one's lover with the approval and acceptance from both involved parties. Ryker fulfilled none, and it just seemed pure violation.

Yes, she was getting savagely raped after being brutally beaten and punished, and she didn't even have energy to scream. Ryker had successfully and completely desecrated Astrid Hofferson.

"N-no, please, ta-take it out. Please."

"Astrid, I don't think that even the gods can separate us now."

Blood dripped on the wood floor below, though if it was solely due to the breaking of the hymen or also due to excessive friction on the vaginal walls was unknown. Probably the second option.

Ryker didn't seem to mind, because he pulled out a bit and pushed up again. All the way. And it was way too much pain. She felt so stuffed and violated that she couldn't breathe, let alone shout.

"So goddamn TIGHT! Oh, gods... FUCK!"

He began thrusting in earnest after that, not caring for the girl beneath him in the slightest. It was utter defilement and sacrilegious vandalism.

Over the next course of about fifteen minutes, Ryker would finish inside her, and pull out. She would hang there, almost lifeless. She could feel pain all over, yet she couldn't feel her body. All she could feel was pain and violation. She was so out of it that her brain refused to work. She couldn't even bring herself to care about Ryker ejaculating inside her even though she wasn't on the moon tea.

That could also be because it would be a matter to think about if she would live. Even if Ryker didn't kill her later, she was sure she wouldn't survive long after this harrowing encounter.

Ryker dressed up and looked at her. He clicked his tongue.

"This could have gone so much better for you, Astrid, had you not been so damn obstinate. You could have told me where it was, and none of this would ever have happened."

Astrid said nothing. She couldn't even keep her eyes opened. Ryker came close to her ear.

"Mark this, Astrid Hofferson - we will find the Dragoneye. It belongs to us, and it will return to us. You are the one who stole it from us. Well, I stole a lot of things from you today, so we will mark us as even. Just remember - you made me do this."

Oh, how badly she wanted to to gouge Ryker's eyes out of his skull with her fingers, but she couldn't even lift her head up.

"Don't say I didn't warn ye. Still, when I find the Dragoneye, I will be able to prove how your ... noble sacrifice was in vain. Before I kill you and put all of this behind us, of course."

Astrid wished she was dead now. Ryker smirked, and left her alone.

After getting the guards to open his door, he got out and stared at the hallway. The air was so much more ... pure. He breathed in for a minute, before turning to one of the guards.

"Untie the girl and put her in a spare cell away from her friends. Get the healer. I don't want her to die of infections now. I will be killing her myself. Oh, and get someone to clean up the mess inside."

"O-okay, sir."

He turned to the other guard and didn't give any attention to the nervous stutter of the previous one.

"Gather some others, and tie up the hands and legs of the other riders. I want them ready to be taken up on deck on a second's notice. Let no one escape. No further orders for now."

"Aye, Ryker sir."

He didn't turn around to see his office anymore. The guards left to do their jobs or to gather men, and he was left alone. He had to get to the deck, so he walked straight past the cells until he came before the one holding the other Riders.

The walls weren't soundproof, so it was possie that they heard her screams and had put two and two together. Fishlegs, Snotlout and Tuffnut were crying, while Ruffnut hadn't shed a single tear. What was common between all the imprisoned teenagers were their looks of utter fury and loathing aimed at him, promising vengeance. No words were uttered out - those weren't needed.

Ryker just smirked, before turning towards the stairs. He emerged on deck seconds later, and headed for the bow.

He took a fresh breath of air once he had positioned himself on the bow railing, and gave out a satisfied smile. His job of striking terror and fury was done. He had seen Astrid ride behind the Night Fury rider, who seemed to be the leader. She had been close to him, so he had chosen her to rape and violate - another stellar reason other than her characteristics. It sent a out a clear message to the other Riders, but it should score the most when the Fury Rider sees her like this.

These idiotic teenagers should not have come after them and challenged them. A lot of people way more tougher, clever and a lot less hot headed had tried and failed. These guys didnt have a chance.

They didn't understand that tge Hunters were not someone you mesdle with and walk away unscathed. There are always consequences, mostly related to blood outside the enemies' bodies than in.

Ryker would make sure that these pests understood that message completely before he killed them, just so they don't meddle with them even in their next lives. He would make sure everybody does.

Therefore, only one job remained to succeed in that endeavour.

Now, to wait. For that Night Fury.

It was early next morning that Hiccup had come up with the idea of a Screaming Death armour. It wouldn't be until midday that he had amassed all the scales, roughly hewn them together in the shape of a Night Fury, donned the armour on his dragon and set off to save his friends.

Typical Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. Doing EVERYTHING solo.

He found the convoy not long after. He was ecstatic to see it just up ahead. Pity he didn't know that Ryker had wanted exactly that.

He hadn't known what to expect when he arrived. He had suspected that the big guy will question them. Had he known what he had done to Astrid, he would have not hesitated to blow Ryker to bits.

But he didn't. So, with the sun right up ahead in the sky, he told Toothless to fire at the water line with all he had. The aim struck true, and the ship began to list immediately to to the continuously adding weight of water.

Having announced his presence, he flew to the front of the fleet to the flagship.

"RYKER! LET MY FRIENDS AND THEIR DRAGONS GO!"

"Well, sure. Why the hell not? BRING UP THE PRISONERS!"

While Hiccup was taken aback at the sudden ... compliance on tge part of Ryker, he still didn't let his guard down. He kept flying to give the Hunters a difficult target. He shouldn't have bothered - no one was shooting at him. Yet.

And then, five burly guards came up, each holding the scruff of the tunics of the Riders. Hiccup quickly scanned the faces for Astrid, and when he found her, he knew something horrible had happened. Not only was she dressed in rags, but she seeming completely knocked out.

"What's wrong with Astrid?"

"Pardon?"

Ryker had left his place on the bridge of the ship, and had come down to the main deck. Four of the guards had let their prisoners down for them to stand, while the fifth held on to Astrid with a blade stuck to her throat. The other guards, too, stuck their blades to the Rider's throats.

Hiccup urged Toothless to move closer, but everyone raised their bows and crossbows. He stopped, forcing Toothless to flap his wings and stay airborne in a single place.

"What have you done with Astrid?"

"Oh, her? She is alive. Beaten up a bit for her cheeky insults and stubbornness. She is okay."

Snotlout tried to say something, but his chaperone / guard tacked up his sword even closer to his throat, so he stopped. Hiccup didn't notice this - he was busy looking at Astrid. She had never looked so helpless and broken. It broke his heart. Anger flared, but he forced himself to keep his cool. Not a good time to be angry.

"Ryker, please, let them go. Give them their dragons back, and let them go."

"Ah, yes. But first things first. What is your name?"

Hiccup paused. That question was ... unexpected.

"I- I'm Hiccup. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third of Berk."

"Oh, okay. So, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third of Berk, I will make you an offer. Set down your dragon and ... what is that???"

Ryker seemed to have noticed the white armour that almost seemed to be sewed on Toothless.

"It's armour. Your arrows wouldn't be able to take us down."

"Ah. Pity. Doesn't matter, I wasn't about to shoot down your Night Fury anyway."

There was some truth to that - The Hunters didn't know how Furies reacted to Dragonroot. He wasn't about to risk killing Toothless. So, he had ordered today's arrows to be plain ones. The ones the day before were laced with Dragonroot, and Ryker was, in a way, glad that the Fury had escaped the arrow waves.

There was also some lie to it too. This was proved by his next mutter to a nearby Hunter.

"The wings, tail and legs seem to be bare. Aim your plain arrows there. If he makes any sudden move, tell everyone to shoot. If not, tell them to wait for my command. Spread the word."

He turned back to Hiccup.

"Where were we?"

"What did you tell that Hunter?"

Said Hunter was busy whispering something to three other guards, before turning to stand by Ryker. The three others started to spread that 'something' further. Hiccup tore his gaze back to Ryker.

"To get ye some refreshments. You are coming down, right?"

"There will be no need, Ryker. Give them their dragons back, and let them go."

"Now why on Midgard would I do such a thing?"

"Because if you don't, I sink every ship and save them."

"Fair enough. Although, you did put a kink in that plan. That ship you sank? That had all the four dragons."

A lie. Small, but effective nonetheless as Hiccup didn't know that. He yelped:

"What?"

"Yes. You sank your friends' dragons. Simple."

"Impossible."

"Fine. Don't believe me."

At that, Hiccup swung around to look at the nearly sunken ship. By the looks of it, all Hunters had escaped, but the dragons were nowhere to be found. For that matter, no dragons could be seen anywhere.

"If you are thinking why there are no distress calls, that's because all dragons are drugged."

"C'mon Toothless, we gotta save th-"

"Noble and selfless sentiments are always good to see, Hiccup Haddock. But, If you go after those dragons, I kill all five of your friends."

Hiccup froze while staring at Ryker, who smirked up at him. At this moment, two others came up on deck.

"BROTHER!!!"

"DAGUR? A- AND ... HEATHER??? WHAT ARE YOU DOIN-"

"Don't mind them, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock. Let's keep up the negotiations!"

Hiccup gave Heather a look of utter betrayal, who had to decency to look abashed and sorry. Hiccup turned his gaze back to Ryker.

"Like I said, Hiccup Haddock. Come down, and I won't kill your friends."

To emphasize his statement, he pulled out his sword and went out to the Rider closest to him - who turned to be Ruffnut. He pointed at the girl's throat.

"Your choice, Hiccup. I can kill him right here. Want me t-"

"HEY! It's a her, you-"

Ruff's guard tightened his sword on Ruff's throat, which shut her up promptly. Ryker whipped around to look at her, and blinked.

"Oh, sorry about that. My bad."

Quite a few sniggers were heard. Ryker shook his head before continuing.

"Right. Where was I? Ah, yes. Like I was saying, I can kill hi-her, right here, right now. I can show you."

Hiccup narrowed his eyes.

"You wouldn't dare."

Ryker's eyebrows rose up. He smiled ever wider.

"Wouldn't I now?"

With that, he turned around and plunged his sword right into Ruff's stomach.

Ruff's guard just managed to miss Ryker's blade by a margin of a millisecond. Ruff, well ... she wasn't so lucky.

Ryker sword had plunged through Ruff's gut and spine - the other end coming out all bloody. All Ruff did to acknowledge a blade in her was a grunt of pain.

A sickly crack was heard as Ryker pulled out his blade out through the damaged vertebrae, and Ruffnut Thorston was dead before she hit the floor.

Utter silence for one second, post which:

"No!" - Hiccup.

"NO! RUFF! NOOOO!!!" - Tuffnut.

Fishlegs vomited right then and there, and the guard holding him let go in disgust. Fish couldn't take advantage of the retreating guard as he doubled over, barfing out heavily.

Snotlout was standing shock still like a statue. Astrid resembled a statue as she was still out cold.

Hiccup couldn't do anything other than sit still on a still airborne Toothless, who growled but didn't do anything. He seemed to understand the gravity of the situation.

Tuffnut, on the other hand, completely lost it."

"RUFFNUT! WAKE UP! NO, PLEASE!"

Turning to Ryker:

"RYKER!!! I'LL KILL YOU!!! YOU SISTERFUCKING SON OF A -"

Ryker was looking at Tuffnut with raised eyebrows, shock apparent on his face. He recovered quickly and nodded to the guard restraining Tuff.

With a quick slice, Tuff's chaperone slit his throat open. The before shouting teen turned to a teen gurgling and choking on his own blood as he fell to his knees. He grabbed his throat, but it was too late. He fell to his right, and was dead within seconds - his neck spewing blood everywhere.

"No! Tuff!" - Hiccup.

Fishlegs barfed out a fresh surge of sick as he looked to the now dead twin brother. Snotlout didn't show much emotion this time either - other than his lower jaw quivering and eyes misting.

Unbelievable anger surged through Hiccup. He asked Toothless to fire. Toothless opened his maw, but before anything happened, he roared in sudden and extreme pain. Toothless fell on the deck below heavily, forcing the ship to lurch a bit. Hiccup fell off on impact.

"What- ?"

And then he saw it.

"TOOTHLESS!!!"

At least fifteen arrows sticking out of the Night Fury's legs, tail and wings. Arrows which should have immediately knocked him out, but were not doing so. The black dragon just writhed in intense pain.

"TOOTHLESS!"

The dragon roared, but didn't do anything. It was then that Hiccup heard many footsteps gathering around him.

"Stay with me, bud."

Hiccup quickly took out his shield from his back and turned...

...only to see at least twenty hunters gathered around him. A majority of them were pointing their arrows at Toothless, while some were pointing at him. Something was off about the arrows, but Hiccup was way too panicked to work it out.

"STAY AWAY FROM HIM!"

"They don't work for you, Hiccup Haddock."

Ryker broke through the crowd of Hunters and came forward, his bloodied sword pointing at Hiccup.

"They work for me."

"What did you do to Toothless?"

"Nothing! We didn't even use Dragonroot arrows for him! See?"

Ryker pointed his sword at one of the nocked arrows. They were devoid of any green substance. That explained why Toothless was still awake.

Hiccup glanced back at Toothless for a second before facing Ryker again, crouching over his dragon in a defensive position with his shield held protectively.

"What do you want?"

Ryker barked out derisive laughter.

"I already told you what I want! I want your dragon!"

That prompted Hiccup to peek back at Toothless for a second.

"Of course, we could always kill you and take him ourselves. It's up to you now."

Hiccup scowled at Ryker, who smirked.

"Will you kill him?"

"Not if you surrender and come quietly."

There was no choice. It was either die or be alive - Toothless would be taken either way. Hiccup looked around to the Hunters surrounding him, and looked back to see his dragon groaning in pain. He closed his eyes and growled in annoyance and defeat. He had a better chance of saving ... whoever was still alive and getting all of them out of here if he was alive.

That, and there was no way he could fight them all and win.

"Fine, Ryker. You win."

Hiccup stood up and dropped his shield to the deck floor. He then put his hand up to show that he had surrendered.

Ryker re-sheathed his sword and clapped his hands once.

"Perfect."

"Please, just don't hurt him!" - Hiccup.

"He is in our care now. He will be safe." - Ryker.

Hiccup scowled at Ryker, who smiled widely. The cell door shut with a clang, which made Hiccup jump. He cursed himself.

His plan to rescue the other Riders had gone horribly. He got himself and Toothless caught, and the twins killed. He was forced to watch as they dropped the almost identical corpses in the waters below.

Toothless was muzzled and chained heavily. The Night Fury tried to resist, but was far too weak and pained to do anything. He was then led downstairs to one of the holding cells, with Hiccup and the others following. The riders were then forced into another cell.

Which leads to now.

Hiccup looked around and spotted Astrid. She was still comatose with laboured breathing, but she was alive, laying on the wood floor.

"Astrid!"

"She is fine, Hiccup Haddock. Sh-"

"You raped her, Ryker."

This line was uttered by Fiahlegs, though it didn't feel like him talking at all. The voice was low, deadly quiet and gravelly. He was shaking in fury.

Hiccup didnt notice all this, as he had whipped around to stare at Ryker. A sudden blaze of anger and denial was raging in his eyes.

"Y-you ... what?"

Ryker shrugged.

"Eh, one thing led to anoth-"

Hiccup punched the cell door, making an almighty ringing sound.

"Yo-you ... raped Astrid? YOU RAPED ASTRID???"

Ryker took a step backwards, shock written all over his face. Then, he smiled maliciously.

"Guilty as charged, Hiccup. I wanted to kill her, too, but she is alive. You should be thankful."

Taking that retreated step forward:

"Question is, what are YOU gonna do about it, Haddock?"

Words failed Hiccup due to his immense anger. He could only shake with fury.

Dagur cackled with utmost mirth beside Ryker, but Heather was the one who caught Hiccup's eye. She was standing on the other side of Ryker, but she was wearing her most stoic expression.

"Heather, how could you do this?"

Nothing.

"Heather, we took you in. Astrid was you friend! The twins were your friends, Heather! How could you let Ryker do that to Astrid? How could you let these scum kill the twins, Heather? How could you do this to us???"

Still nothing.

"For fuck's sake, Heather, ANSWER ME!!!"

He finally got a response: A solitary step back with a flinch. Heather finally looked at Hiccup, who saw a lot of pain in her eyes and a quivering bottom lip. Hiccup, of course, was too consumed in his fury to regard her pain.

A single second of eye contact maintined, before Heather pulled up her black hood and left. Dagur was still to happy to threaten Hiccup about shouting at his 'sis', while Ryker looked at the angry and defeated group of Riders with immense satisfaction.

It was time to reveal the final part of his plan.

"Well, that's that, I guess. On a happier note, I am pleased to inform you that we will be turning around and heading for Dragon's Edge. Dagur will be leading the way, of course. You see, we really need to retrieve the Dragoneye."

With that, some of the anger in Hiccup's eyes replaced was replaced by fear. The Dragoneye was not hidden at all; it was in his hut. It will be easily found.

Ryker seemed to have correctly interpreted Hiccup's sudden fear, and laughed out loudly. It was a booming laughter which was clearly lined with malice and evil wickedness in every way possible. He finally looked like the actual villian he was.

When he finally stopped, he dished out one last line.

"You and your friends better hunker down, Hiccup Haddock. A storm is coming."

With that, he and his entourage left. Hiccup's knees finally gave way as he slunk down agains the cell door rails in utter defeat.

Everyone in the cell jumped when he leaned back and shouted out at the top of his voice:

"RYKER!!!"

True to Ryker's word, the fleet of four ships reached the Edge within two days. After a search of just an hour, the Dragoneye was found.

Ryker got his wish, too. The healers managed to keep Astrid alive till he got his hands on the ancient artefact. Then, he had the other riders killed, and had gloated his victory to a still knocked out Astrid before plunging his sword through her heart.

Heather and Dagur were killed on Viggo's island, and were tossed out to the sea. Turns out it was Meatlug who had died in the sinking of the fifth ship. No matter, as a Gronckle was not that profitable and was the easiest to replace. The Hunters made a great deal of money for the sale of the other five dragons. Enough for Viggo to be the most proficient and well known Dragon Hunter boss for hundreds of miles around. He also made a lot of money himself.

The bodies of the four Riders were left out in the Dragon's edge arena. They had left Astrid's body naked to show her almost mangled and scarred body. Like Ryker had thought, the ungodly sight of her decomposing and manhandled body was the message he had wanted to impart, and also the cause of Astrid's parent committing suicide. Stoick was angry but lost, unable to decipher who did this to his son and friends. As the initial suspect had been the twins, Stoick had been forced to impose death sentences on their parents, who were hanged the next day.

Stoick knew that the twins couldnt have done it, so he had taken an oath to keep finding for who ripped the very soul of Berk apart, and serve justice. Sadly, taking oaths do not mean that the Grimborns could be found and killed, so all Stoick could do was slit his wrist with his knife and bleed to death after twenty years of futile search. Berk was destroyed beyond repair.

The message was clear that there were people out there you should not cross. Whoever those people were, they were extremely dangerous. Best for everyone was to stay away and mind their respective businesses, and let those people be left alone.

Anyone who crossed the Hunters were terminated or eradicated. The Grimborns made sure of it.

The Hunters had won. Again.

WELL, THIS STORY SEEMS TO HAVE EARNED THAT 'M' RATING AFTER ALL.

I WAS NOT VERY PLEASED ON HOW THIS CHAPTER TURNED OUT TO BE. NOT A LOT HAS CHANGED, BUT I HAVE RE-EDITED THE ENTIRE THING LOADS OF TIMES FOR THE PAST FOUR DAYS. I REALLY HOPE YOU LIKE IT.

AN OVERLY VIOLENT AND ANGSTY CHAPTER. ALSO, THE LONGEST CHAPTER I HAVE WRITTEN TILL DATE.

PLEASE DON'T STAKE ME. REVIEW IT INSTEAD - TELL ME HOW CONFLICTED YOU FEEL.

UNTIL LATER, THEN.

ABHASCLASH.