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DreamWorks Dragons: Defenders of Berk
Scauldron's Cove
Chapter 4
Astrid walked across the docks with Stormfly, her head bowed and her movement sloppy. She sighed, looking up at the sunset that shone before her with a sad expression. A thought crossed her mind, back when flight was temporarily banned and Hiccup talked about how he and Toothless would take a lap around the island. She wished she would be able to see they up there in the sky, or at least hear that Night Fury call again. Toothless wasn't exactly in good spirits at the moment, haven't been since Hiccup and the Twins disappeared. He was very distant from everybody, always sitting down by the beach looking out at the ocean, or sitting on one of the high level rocks just above the village staring out at the horizon. He wouldn't even go back to his bed in Hiccup's room to sleep; he'd always be outside, watching, waiting.
When Astrid got back with the information of the missing twins and Hiccup, Toothless had just gotten over his little illness and was expecting to see his rider. But as Astrid was the only human with the two dragons, Toothless became confused and followed Astrid the whole way from the forge—where Astrid asked Gobber where Stoick was—up to the Great Hall. And just like a Night Fury, he understood what was being said, sensed that unnatural dread from the chief when the news was broke, and knew why the entire dragon academy left soon after. He watched as ships left and came back with nothing, the chief and the other teens leaving and coming back with nothing, over and over again. Instead of going with them, not like he'd be able to, he searched the beach, every inch of it, for any signs of his little Hiccup and the other two riders. But just like the other dragons and the boats, he came back with nothing. All Toothless could do now was watch and wait, stay alert and stand guard. He knew Hiccup wasn't gone, just lost somewhere. He also knew that Hiccup was searching to find Berk just as much as Berk was searching to find him.
Hiccup's metal leg stepped out into the aperture, this one being incredibly enormous compared to the last ones they were in. Ever since they found those energy-sucking crystals, they couldn't go anywhere without seeing more. That was good, and bad; good because it provided light and warmth, bad because they had to make sure not to touch any or else end up fainting again from lack of energy as Hiccup so unwilling experienced.
Their venture further through the seemingly endless catacombs brought them to a large opening where a waterfall spritzed its water out into a very large puddle, the water then flowing down separate streams and into other smaller puddles of water. The air was moist and fresh, green plants actually growing on some of the rocks. They almost looked like seaweed, covering some of the rock like pillars and stretching the whole way up to the ceiling.
It fascinated Hiccup to no end to see a place like this, warm, plant life, light, fresh water from the waterfall; quite an ideal place for an animal to survive; which is why he was being so precautious at the moment. The twins, however, were not.
"I spy with my little eye something… tan, with some brown and green, a little grey here." Tuff described.
"Hiccup." Ruff answered. Hiccup rolled his eyes as he walked ahead of them. A noise off in the distance caused him to stop and scan the environment.
"Alright, my turn;" Ruffnut said. "I spy with my little eye something… kind of tall, has two legs and two arms, well actually, only one leg and two arms."
Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows and glanced back at Ruffnut.
"Oooh, oooh, ooooooh, I got this!" Tuff exclaimed as he struggled with his brain. "I give up." Ruffnut shook her head.
The noise sounded again, this time Hiccup recognized it and he lowered himself closer to the ground. This action caused the twins to look over in his direction.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Ruff asked; neither of them had heard the noise.
"Get down, I heard something; I think it was a dragon." Hiccup informed, motioning them to get down. Ruff did so and moved over beside Hiccup, but Tuffnut kept standing.
"That's ridiculous, we're under the ocean, what's a dragon going to be doing down—WHOA, what is that?!" Tuffnut moved from one subject to the other, pointing ahead of them before dashing off towards the thing he saw.
"Tuffnut!" Hiccup called out for him.
"He's such an idiot." Ruff criticized. She glanced over at what her brother was heading to and her eyes widened as her jaw dropped. "Whoa…" she gaped before getting up and racing over towards it as well.
Hiccup face palmed his forehead before going after them, but more quietly.
"Guys there's something here, we need to be quiet." He said as he made his way over to them. They were standing by a relatively small rock that was nestled on top of a pile of green seaweed looking plants beside on of the many pillars. The rock was round and decorated with a marble looking mixture of green and blue.
"Look at it, it's so cool looking." Tuffnut commented. Hiccup walked up to them, glancing at the stone before turning around to check his surroundings.
"Just make sure you don't touch—"Hiccup was saying before looking back towards the twins, who were touching the weird looking rock. "And they're touching it." He said with a deadpan look.
"Whoa," Tuff said as he moved his hand across the surface of the rock.
"It's smooth, and shiny." Ruff complemented.
"And pretty, can we take it with us?" Tuff asked, looking at Hiccup who was walking towards them.
"No!" Hiccup replied, feeling irritated by their incompetence.
"Aw come on, it's not poisonous like the one you touched." Ruffnut pleaded. Hiccup glared at her, looking down at the so called rock before realization struck him.
"Guys, wait; that's not a rock, it's—"Another sound echoed across the aperture, this time louder and closer. Hiccup moved his body up against the rock pillar, the twins right behind him, as he peered out over the side and looked around before his eyes landed on something. Up ahead was a large, green Scauldron, the maker of the sound they heard, obviously its roar. It looked around the floor for a bit before moving towards another weird looking "rock" that was comfortably sitting upon a pile of plants like the one they were beside.
Scanning the aperture more, Hiccup noticed more of these "rocks", some grouped in two or three while most had only one. They watched as another Scauldron came up from the depths of the large puddle next to the waterfall, two more coming afterwards.
"Oh this isn't good. We are trespassing on territory of a highly dangerous dragon. And you know what's worse?" Hiccup asked, turning to look at the twins.
"No, what?" Tuff asked.
"We are trespassing on territory of a highly dangerous dragon's nesting-ground. And those aren't rocks, they're eggs," Hiccup said pointing at the egg behind them. "Their eggs." He finished while pointing at the Scauldrons across the aperture.
"That's bad right?" Ruff asked.
"Yes, Ruffnut that's very bad. You do not come between a mother dragon and her egg." Hiccup stated as he turned back around to watch the Scauldrons.
"So what would a Scauldron do if it found us with one of the eggs?" Tuffnut asked, looking behind them.
"Probably attack, why?" Hiccup said.
"Because I think that's what it's doing right now!" Tuff yelled, both Ruffnut and Hiccup turning around to see an angry thin Scauldron charging them. The twins both screamed as the dived out of the way, Hiccup accidently tripped while trying to get up and was now trapped against the rock pillar.
The Scauldron shot its head down, grabbing Hiccup's metal leg and hauled him up off the ground. He screamed as he hung upside down, utterly defenseless and at the mercury of the Scauldron.
"Ruff, Tuff, help me!" He shouted.
"I'm out of here!"
"See ya!" They said as both teens ran off.
"That's not helping!" Hiccup yelled at them. The Scauldron's eyes followed the twins, getting wide as it watched them run towards another nest. It swung its head to the left and flung Hiccup over into a puddle before running towards the retreating twins.
"It's after you!"
"It's after you!"
"No it's after you!"
"No it's after you!" they argued as they pushed each other while running away; the Scauldron hot on their tails. Once they got to the nest, they tried hiding behind the egg. The Scauldron stopped in front of them and roared.
Ruff glanced down at the egg, "This probably isn't our best idea."
"It certainly isn't the worst though," Tuffnut replied with a chuckle. The Scauldron mother roared again, the twins screaming and running away in opposite directions. The Scauldron stayed by its nest as it glanced between the two nitwits. Ruffnut ran out of the aperture and down a nearby tunnel, disappearing around the corner. Tuffnut wasn't as lucky as he tried rounding a corner only to be met with another angry mother Scauldron, this one, unlike the last, having its belly full of hot water.
Hiccup took in a deep breath as he broke through the surface.
"Man that's deep!" He said as he climbed out of the water. He sighed, "It's a good thing it grabbed my prosthetic, or else I'd be dead within twenty four hours." Hiccup gasped as he saw Tuffnut backing away from a very, very angry mother Scauldron; the distance between them too close for Hiccup's comfort. He rushed over, getting closer to them before stopping and looking around for something to use. He stopped at one of the crystals; looking up at the Scauldron and then back down at the crystal. He back up before running forward, kicking the crystal with his metal leg and watching as it flew across the room and hit the Scauldron in the face.
The green sea dragon shrieked as the gem collided with its face, turning around and running away. Tuffnut ran off in the direction his sister went, going down the tunnel and also disappearing around the bend. Hiccup chased after him and met up with the two as they were leaning against the wall breathing hard.
"Are you guys okay?" He asked, stopping in front of them while looking concerned.
"I think; I almost died." Ruff breathed out.
"You almost died?!" Tuff replied.
"Look, from now on, we stay low; we stay quiet, and we don't touch anything!" Hiccup commanded.
"Gotcha," Tuff answered with a thumbs up.
"Understood," Ruff responded as well.
To be continued…