Chapter 27

The boy growled at Hiccup, his tail flicking defensively beneath him. His gaze was piercing, his red eyes stark against his dirty appearance. 

"Human," the boy growled, his pupils turning to slits as he stared at Hiccup. 

"Uh, no?" Hiccup smartly responded, making the boy jump with a start. 

"What?" the boy hissed, his eyes widening. 

"I'm not, uh-" Hiccup glanced at Toothless helplessly, whose mouth was also gaping open at the boy before them. 

The boy's gaze suddenly flitted to Toothless, and he seemed to relax ever so slightly as confusion flooded his features. 

"Moon Sweeper," the boy stated to Toothless. 

"Yeah?" Toothless asked, glancing nervously between the boy and Hiccup. 

"What are you doing with a human?" the boy growled, "And why does he speak with a dragon tongue?" 

"I'm not human," Hiccup interjected frustratedly. 

"You sure look human to me," the boy hissed, his red eyes flashing. 

Hiccup glanced at Toothless, silently telling him to keep his guard up, before letting blue light cascade over his body. His wings and tail sprouted out of his back, making the boy's eyes widen. 

His mouth fell agape, "You're-" he stopped, trying to form words but seemingly unable. 

"Dragonborn," Hiccup responded, his voice light as he stared in awe at the boy. 

Silence stretched between them as they both took in the other's features, unable to comprehend that they were seeing another one of their kind. 

"Alright," Hiccup said, banishing his wings and tail. "Let me get you out of here." 

"And why should I trust you?" the boy responded suspiciously, "We may both be Dragonborn, but that doesn't mean that you wouldn't sell me off like all humans intend to do."

Hiccup snorted, a scowl crossing his face, "I assure you, I don't like humans any more than you do." 

The boy looked at him critically, "And where are you going to take me?"

"Back to the Nest of Spikes," Hiccup responded. "My mother's nest. I Lead my own Flight on an island not too far from the nest. You can choose to stay with me, my mother, or take off on your own." He gave the boy an earnest look, "I just want to get you out of here. No dragon should have to fall prey to the Dragon Hunters, let alone a Dragonborn." 

The boy observed Hiccup one more time, before he slowly nodded, his eyes still defensive. 

"Okay," he said. "How will you get me out?" 

"We could blast you out," Hiccup pondered aloud. "There aren't any other dragons on the ship." 

"Bad idea," the boy responded. "The entire lower deck is below the water. We would get less than two seconds to blast the second manacle off after getting rid of the first one." 

"We could blast them at the same time," Toothless offered. 

"We'd probably all drown," Hiccup said, shaking his head as he fully thought through the process. "The onslaught of water would make it impossible for us to swim out." 

"So how will we get him out?" Toothless asked. 

Hiccup glanced up to where the boy's wrists were tied to the wall. The metal had a shine Hiccup recognized. Lava Grubber iron. Which meant that there wouldn't be any bending of the metal. So how could they get the boy out of the chains? 

A memory wafted behind Hiccup's eyes, making him grimace and glance down at his own wrists. One day when Hiccup was still on Berk, Snotlout had come up with the bright idea of tying Hiccup by his wrists to a tree in the middle of the woods and leaving him there to die. He'd said something about a 'Real Viking' being able to break out of the rope with pure strength. Naturally, Hiccup had rubbed his wrists down to the muscle after two days of being tied up, before all his struggling ended up dislocating his left thumb. Vividly, he could remember the pain that followed the pop, and then the shock as his hand slipped out of the bindings. It had taken another full day for him to build up the courage to dislocate the other thumb, Snotlout having had taken all sharp objects from him and the nearby surroundings, so he couldn't cut his other hand out. But eventually, he had stumbled back into the village to find his father glaring at him as he fainted from exhaustion and blood loss. 

"I have an idea," Hiccup said to the boy, "but it's going to hurt." 

He laughed bitterly, "All I've known is pain. I can take it." 

Hiccup smiled sadly, knowing what the boy meant. He slowly approached to where the boy was hung, trying not to startle him.

"Okay," he said, "I'm going to have to dislocate your thumbs." 

The boy raised his eyebrows, suspicion still clouding his features, "Dislocate my thumbs?" 

"Yes, it'll make your hands small enough to slip through the bindings," Hiccup responded. 

"Alright," the boy sighed, his voice hard with resolve. "Give me something to bite on. If I scream, we can't let the humans hear it." 

Hiccup glanced around, but the room was empty. He glanced down at his belt, wincing as Inferno seemed to call to him. With a sigh, he grabbed the sword's handle, silently apologizing to her as he placed the weapon's hilt into the boy's mouth. 

"On three," Hiccup said, reaching up to the boy's hand. "One, two-"

"Wait!" the boy screeched, spitting Inferno out of his mouth and making Hiccup scramble to catch it. 

"What?" Hiccup exclaimed, glaring at the boy as he cradled Inferno to his chest. 

"My wings," the boy responded, his voice shaky. "Get my wings un-nailed first, please." 

Hiccup glanced to the boy's wings, his eyes widening in realization. If he had gotten the boy's hands free first, his wings would have torn off of the nails from the weight of his body. 

"Right," Hiccup said. "Let's do that first." 

He glanced around again, trying to figure out how to dig the nails out of the wood. Inferno was still in his hands, and he figured that he could probably pry the nails out with the blade. But what would the boy bite onto then? 

"Just tear off some of that leather on your clothes," the boy said, seeming to read his thoughts. "It should be enough for me to bite on." 

Hiccup sighed quietly, grimacing as he brought Inferno down on his brand new leather clothing. Were all of his nice things going to get ruined that day? 

Nevertheless, he cut a sizable piece of leather out of his sleeve, figuring that it would be the easiest to repair. He placed the piece of once very nice clothing in the boy's mouth, before gripping Inferno at its hilt with two hands and lifting it to where the single nail dug into the boy's right wing. Thankfully, there was only one nail in each wing, so it should have been quick.  

"On three," Hiccup breathed, making the boy hiss in pain as he dug part of the blade underneath the nail. "One, two, three!" 

He twisted the sword with all his might, sending the nail flying across the room as the boy's screams were muffled by the leather. In order to get enough leverage, Hiccup had to dig the opposite side of the blade into the boy's wing, which had left a large gash oozing blood. 

As quickly as he could, Hiccup flung Inferno out of his grip, reaching out with both hands towards the wounds. Blue light flooded towards his palms, and he pressed his fingers against the boy's wing as they began to scar over. In seconds, the wounds were healed, and the boy was panting heavily beneath the leather. 

"One more time," Hiccup said, snatching up Inferno again and walking towards the boy's other side. 

The boy nodded weakly, sweat starting to drip down his temple. 

"One, two, three!" 

Another nail flew across the room, another scream of pain, more blue light filled the air. The boy flexed his wings briefly, but he let them fall limp as exhaustion took its toll. 

"Okay," Hiccup said, facing the boy, "now for the wrists." 

"Great," the boy said weakly, the tough exterior he had presented to Hiccup long fallen away as unguarded pain showed in his ruby eyes. 

Hiccup breathed out, reaching up to the boy's right hand. He grasped his thumb in one hand, and remembering the motion that Hiccup had used to purposefully dislocate his thumb that day in the forest, he began to count down. 

"One, two, three!" 

It didn't take much effort for Hiccup to make the pop sound from the boy's finger, but the scream that escaped his lungs made Hiccup's heart beat wildly, his screams making panic rise in his chest. Frantically, he slipped the boy's hand from the manacle, and his palms glowed a blinding blue. The blood on his wrists vanished instantly, and his thumb popped back into place without a second thought. 

The boy's breaths were heavy and ragged, his entire body hanging limp from his one wrist was tied. Hiccup scurried over to the boy's other hand, grabbing his palm and thumb firmly before the boy could recover from the previous pain. 

"One, two-" 

The boy slumped to the floor in a heap as his thumb popped out of place, a whimper falling out of his lips as his body shut down from the pain.

Hiccup kneeled down beside the boy, grabbing his hand and healing it again within seconds. He breathed heavily for a couple moments, before he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to calm his mind. 

"Are you alright?" Hiccup asked the boy.

The boy slowly sat up, one of his arms supporting him as he stared at Hiccup.

"Oh, sure, I'm alright," the boy said sarcastically. "I've just had nails ripped out of my wings and both of my thumbs pulled out of their sockets, but I feel great." 

Hiccup laughed, standing up and gently pulling the boy with him. 

"I never got your name," Hiccup said, looking at the red eyed boy curiously. 

The boy gave him one last critical stare before answering, "My birth name is Ignatius." 

Hiccup tilted his head, "I don't think I've heard that before." 

"I'm from Imperium Romana," Ignatius responded, saying his birthplace in a language Hiccup couldn't understand. "Which, I'm guessing from your voice, is far away from your home." 

Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows, "What's different about my voice?" 

Ignatius shrugged, "Your accent is different." 

Now that Hiccup listened to it, Ignatius's voice did sound different from Hiccup's. It was less rough than that of the Viking language, more smooth and musical. 

"What's your birth name?" Ignatius asked. 

"Hiccup," Hiccup responded with a sigh. "My birth name is Hiccup."

"Hiccup?" Ignatius asked, a ghost of a smile crossing his features. 

"Yeah, laugh all you want," Hiccup responded, gently grabbing Ignatius's arm and turning to Toothless. "We better get going." 

"Good," Toothless said, "because I think that Viggo guy just got on board." 

Hiccup tensed immediately, the casualness melting from his body as he listened to the sounds coming from above. Sure enough, footsteps were running across the wood, and the voices were getting louder. With a single move, Hiccup mounted onto Toothless's back, making Ignatius let out an indignant squeak as he dragged the red eyed boy with him. 

"What are you doing?" Ignatius asked confusedly.

"I ride on Toothless's back so that Dragonborn aren't found out," Hiccup responded, positioning himself on his brother's back. "Toothless, I need you to dive bomb the wall. Hopefully, you're able to shoot out into the water before it comes rushing in." 

Toothless groaned, "I hate water." 

"Well, too bad, because there's no other way out of here," Hiccup responded. 

"Do I not get a say in this?" Ignatius asked angrily, but Hiccup ignored him. 

"Toothless, now," Hiccup demanded, leaning low onto Toothless's back and forcing Ignatius to do the same. 

With a sigh, Toothless bent his knees. He shot forward, shooting a powerful plasma blast as he gave his wings a mighty flap. Hiccup drew in a breath as water engulfed them, Toothless shooting out of the boat as he pulled his wings close to his body. 

They came to a stop in the water, and Hiccup gripped Toothless's neck tighter as he started paddling towards the air. Just as they were about to break the surface, Toothless opened his wings and flapped them hard. He launched into the sky, not stopping for even a second as he began climbing towards the clouds. Shouts were thrown from the ship below, all frantically trying to stop the ship from sinking. But before any of them could even see where they had gone, they were already above the clouds. 

Toothless hovered above the clouds, and Hiccup looked around for Hookfang. 

"Hookfang?" Hiccup yelled across the sky. 

Wing beats started sounding from their left, and Hookfang came into view. 

"Captain!" the Blaze Builder exclaimed, relief filling his face, "I heard the plasma blast and thought-" 

He stopped mid sentence, spotting Ignatius on Toothless's back. His wings and tail were still in full view, and he glared at Hookfang as the Blaze Builder's jaw dropped. 

"We found what Viggo was so excited to come get," Hiccup said, smiling. 

"You definitely did," Hookfang responded, slightly dazed. 

"Alright, both of you get off my back," Toothless said irritatedly. "None of the Dragon Hunters can see us, and your weight is annoying." 

Hiccup turned to Ignatius, "You sure you're not too weak to fly on your own? I could easily-"

Ignatius launched himself off of Toothless's back, gliding across the surface of the clouds as red light exploded from his body. With a joyous laugh, he shifted into his dragon form, making Hiccup's eyes widen as he twisted through the air back towards them. 

"What?" Ignatius laughed, his red eyes filled with joy as they all stared at him, dumbfounded. 

"You're a Sun Sweeper," Toothless breathed. 

The Dragonborn's body was entirely white, his features mirroring that of Toothless's and Hiccup's when he was in his dragon form, his red eyes bright against his bright white scales. 

"So?" Ignatius asked, tilting his head, his ear flaps raising slightly. 

"We've never met a Sun Sweeper," Hiccup said. 

"I'd never seen another Moon Sweeper before Hiccup," Toothless said. "And even then, I made him a Moon Sweeper." 

Ignatius's eyes jumped to Hiccup in surprise, "You're a Moon Sweeper?" 

In response, Hiccup jumped off of Toothless's back, blue light filling the air as he shifted into his dragon form. He hovered in the air, facing the Sun Sweeper Dragonborn. 

"Wow," Ignatius said, looking at Hiccup with amazement. "I've never met a single other Dragonborn, and you're a Moon Sweeper." 

"The only other Dragonborn I've seen is my mom," Hiccup responded, shaking his head incredulously. "We thought we were the last ones." 

"I thought so too," Ignatius responded. 

Silence engulfed them for a moment, before Hiccup beckoned his Flight to follow him. 

"Come on," Hiccup said to them, "let's get back to the nest before my mom has a heart attack."