Deception (A Dragons Race to the Edge Fanfic)

Chapter 24

You stood on the top deck of the ship with Amethyst at your side, breathing in the salty, sea air. So far, the plan seemed to be going well. Hiccup and the riders had been secured in the cages below you, and another group of hunters had managed to lure the Screaming Death towards Berk.

'Good.' You thought to yourself, 'That will teach them to underestimate me.'  You didn't know what would happen next. Now that your mission and revenge were almost complete, what were you supposed to do after? You knew that the only realistic option was for you and Amethyst to leave Dragon Hunter Island. Yet, something seemed to be pulling you back. As independent as you were, you didn't exactly want to leave. The truth was, the thought of not seeing Viggo again troubled you enormously.

'You don't need anyone!' you told yourself. Besides, you had Amethyst. You couldn't help wondering what you would do with your life now. What would your purpose be? Merely survival? You couldn't help feeling that the absence of what had been slowly blossoming between Viggo and yourself would be sorely missed if you were to leave, and not only by you.  

Amethyst nudged your arm again. You knew she was hungry, so you led her below deck, to where the hunters stored the food supplies. You handed her a fish, which she swallowed in a single gulp. She then licked your face with gratitude, smothering fishy  dragon saliva all over your face. You screwed up your face, pushing away her snout with a small chuckle, and trying to wipe it off with your sleeve and some nearby water. Amethyst squawked with amusement at your attempt, throwing a playful grin at the difficulty you encountered.

"I see," you said, "very funny..." Amethyst replied with another excited caw.

 Once you had cleaned yourself up to your satisfaction, you were about to head to the top deck again, when you overheard voices in another chamber of the lower deck. You realized it was the riders, and quickly strained your ears to make out what they were saying, curiosity gnawing at you. Edging silently down the corridor, you remained just out of sight of the cage they were in.

"I can't believe this!" Hiccup was saying.

"And who knows what she's told him!" Astrid sounded frustrated.

"Who?" Snotlout questioned.

"Viggo." Astrid replied, "I bet she's told him all about the defenses on the Edge."

"But, (Y/n) wouldn't do that, would she?" Fishlegs asked doubtfully.

"Sure she would." Ruff said simply.

"I mean, after the way you guys treated her and everything." Tuff added.

"That's not helping, guys." Astrid returned sternly.

"Listen, I know what it's like to feel alone and abandoned." Heather explained, "We made her feel like she didn't belong, and that made her feel vulnerable.  That's when she would have been susceptible to Viggo's persuasion. We don't know what he's convinced her of. It's easy to fall into the trap of believing what someone as  tricky as Viggo says, when you have no one else to turn to. "

"Maybe I was too harsh to her..." Hiccup said slowly, "I mean, she was trying to help, but..."

"The way she went about it was wrong." Astrid finished his sentence. "She shouldn't have gone off on her own like that." She added firmly, as if trying to assure herself she'd done the right thing. Yet, there seemed to be uncertainty in her voice.

"And don't forget she tried to destroy the Edge!" Snotlout pitched in.

"I guess she was angry and upset." Fishlegs suggested.