Chapter 3
Stoick's blood seemed to freeze. He read the note again. His great hand closed on the small lock of his son's hair.
Not again.
First he'd lost Val; he couldn't lose Hiccup too.
...
Hiccup was, understandably, having a bad day.
One second he was being ambushed a faceless adversary; the next he was rudely awoken by a cold bucket of water to the face. His startled sputtering must've be the height of amusement, he concluded, as it evoked harsh laughter from the shadow over him. Hiccup attempted to wipe his eyes but found that his hands were tied behind his back. Better and better…
"Rise 'n shine, Dragon Boy. Things to do, people to see."
Hiccup went rigid at his choice of epithet. Blinking up at the man, the first feature he noted was a brown beard like an electrified possum. His large stature was outfitted in scale chainmail and he looked generally dirty. The horns on his helmet were intertwined; mirroring a twisted personality, Hiccup assumed.
"What… What'd you call me?"
Alvin grinned. "You 'eard me," he said simply, before turning to attend to other matters.
A familiar trill close to his ear made Hiccup swivel his head around. "Toothless! Oh, no, not you too…"
The dragon's wide, intelligent eyes looked questioningly at his human, then at their captors.
Understanding the unspoken inquiry, Hiccup turned and spotted the leader guy again.
"Hey!" He yelled, gaining Alvin's attention. "Who are you? What are you doing on Berk?"
The man chuckled and replied, "All excellent questions, questions you'll have answers for soon enough. Men!" He drew the rest of the shady-looking Viking's attention. "Let's move!"
Hiccup gasped in surprise when the wooden platform he was seated on lurched forward on its squeaky wheels. He gritted his teeth and wracked his brain for any way to get out of this situation. If he ran they'd just drag him back; and honestly he couldn't just leave Toothless with these idiots. He could practically feel his friend seething at his back, and he knew the frustration he felt was mutual.
"So… you guys kidnap teens for fun often?" He asked the couple of men pushing the contraption from behind. Their faces remained stony, not even appearing to hear him. "Talkative lot, aren't you…" Hiccup gave up, seeing that these goons weren't going to tell him anything.
Reaching the edge of the village, Alvin ordered them to stop. He approached Hiccup and took out a knife, using it to sheer off a bit of his bangs and enjoying how the kid flinched at the contact.
"What was that for?" Hiccup demanded.
Alvin paused. "Business," he said before leaving them and heading into the village. The rest of the several dozen Outcasts scattered to take their various posts around the island, while Savage grabbed Hiccup and, despite noises of protest, pushed him along after Alvin.
Left alone was Toothless, immobile but angry as a hornet. He didn't know what was going on, but that Hiccup was in danger; and they would find out that no one messes with someone a Night Fury feels protective over.
...
P-P-P-A-A-A-A-A-R-R-R-P-P-P!
Astrid awoke with a start to the sound of the emergency horn blowing.
"Astrid Camicazi Hofferson! We need to get ourselves to the Great Hall immediately!" She heard her mother call.
Immediately alert, she bounded down the stairs with a battle ax in hand. Her parents were there already, likewise prepared. Together they exited the house and found the other villagers pouring out of their homes as well.
In the Great Hall, a din rose as the Vikings tried to distinguish the cause of the disturbance. Stoick entered and stood at the head of the room, waiting for silence. Astrid thought he looked a little strange—almost… nervous; distracted. Not at all like his usual strong self. Beside him was Gobber, who looked just as jittery. Clearly he knew what was going on.
When the Hall quieted, Stoick spoke: "I know you're all wondering why we're here. It's a matter that requires… delicacy."
The people of Berk gave each other confused looks. Delicacy was not something Vikings were renowned for.
Suddenly the double doors burst open with great fanfare and everyone gasped when a crowd of Outcasts emanated through them.
The normal Viking reaction would've been to attack, attack without question and either conquer or die in glory. Death or Glory was their motto.
The clincher was, Alvin headed the enemy party; and in his grasp, a knife at his throat, was the Hope and Heir to the Hairy Hooligan Tribe, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third.
Astrid took in the scene with shock, barely able to contain a plethora of questions: Who was this man threatening them? How did he get Hiccup? What in Midgard were they going to do?!
Stoick kept his eyes locked on his son, whose own green ones were wide and filled with fright.
"Nice to be here, Hooligans! No need for applause, please, just as you are is fine!" His stunned audience watched as Alvin mounted the table in the middle of the Hall with Hiccup still in his hold. His tone turned serious: "You are outnumbered and surrounded; fighting now would only result in needless loss of life. Your chief understands this, and has agreed to an armistice. And I, Alvin the Treacherous, Chief of the Outcasts, am pleased to announce that the Isle of Berk will be entering the Slave Trade; with all of you playing the important role of slaves."
Angry outbursts punctuated the previous silence, and Spitelout even attacked a nearby Outcast with his hammer, only to be contained by three more.
"NOW!" Alvin continued, "You will deposit your weapons on your way out and be escorted to the jails for the rest of the night. IMMEDIATELY!"
As the reluctant Vikings did so, Alvin motioned to Stoick that he was to stay. Outcasts pushed the Hooligans along, looking pleased with themselves. As Snotlout passed the table he hissed at Hiccup, "I can't believe you went and got yourself caught, Useless!" which of course made Hiccup feel even worse than he already did. Astrid tried to get a glimpse of Hiccup's face through the crowd to see if he was alright, but before she could her ax was snatched roughly from her grip and she was shoved out the door.
At last the doors shut and an unnatural silence filled the Hall as Alvin turned a triumphant grin on his conquered enemy. Stoick looked pale from the night's events, his gaze still on his child in the hands of his enemy.
"Let him go now, Alvin. You got what you wanted."
The Outcast chief pretended to think about it. "Hmm… I don't think I will," he decided, gripping Hiccup's arm tighter in such a way that the boy let out a pained hiss. He took appalling delight in the father's horror for a moment before releasing the runt and laughing, "Ah, why not? There's fun to be had in the mornin'."
Hiccup stumbled down to his dad, who quickly drew him tightly to his side.
"Where's Toothless, Alvin? Where's my—"
Hiccup blanched, then bit his tongue. Stoick looked down at him, puzzled.
This made Alvin roar in amusement. "Almost forgot about that, didn't I? Savage!" The mustached assistant came out of the shadows by the door. "Have some of the men bring in the creature." Savage nodded and left.
"What's going on?" Stoick demanded, glancing back and forth between Hiccup, Alvin, and the door.
"Just a little surprise, Stoick." Alvin winked disgustingly at Hiccup, who shuddered.
But a moment later, Savage returned, out of breath and looking flustered. "It's gone, Alvin! Must've gotten out of the restraints!"
Hiccup's heart leapt in hope.
"Hmm," Alvin frowned, considering. "No matter. We can make do. I wanted to see how it works anyway." He eyed Hiccup, then Stoick. "And won't it be fun for all of us," he cackled."Now take these ones to their special quarters."
At his order Savage and some other men herded father and son out the door. They were locked in a single cell off the side of the Dragon Ring. Stoick's hands were secured like Hiccups before they were left alone in utter darkness.
"Son, are you okay?"
"…Um, fine?"
Stoick chuckled. "Good."
A pause.
"Dad, who is Alvin? Why does he hate Berk?"
Stoick hesitated, then sighed, "I suppose you should know."
"Know what?"
Stoick cleared his throat of emotion. "The truth about what happened to your mother."
Grrr I dislike this. Strongly. I hate both fighting-ish sequences and dramatic back-stories, and somehow both weaseled their way in here. I promise not to spend too much time on the story thing next chapter; I just feel like it's not been explained why Stoick hates Alvin, or what happened to Valhallarama, so why not make a head-cannon theory? For the purposes of this fanfic it's to explain character motivation. But like I said, I promise not to waste too much time on it.
But, hey, stuff's happenin- that's good, right? Toothless got away, what? hehe, we shall see...
And now it's like 1:30 AM, so I am going to bed. night peeps n_n
~Raz
