Whew. This chapter took more time than the others to write. I knew where I wanted to go with it, but actually getting to that point was… harder than I expected it would be. But I like how it turned out. And I hope you enjoy this chapter, too.

Disclaimer: Artemis Fowl and co. is owned by Eoin Colfer. Hiccup and co. is owned by Dreamworks. I own the plot though .

Act 1: Past.

Chapter 4: Escape.

Artemis was slowly recovering from his time spent with Stoick. He knew that getting over traumatic experiences without actually confronting them would be bad for him psychologically speaking, but he had no time to dwell on these matters, as he followed Hiccup across the arena. It wasn't very big, but Artemis supposed that it was mostly used for duels, which didn't require much space. He noted there was a ceiling, made of metal beams formed in a spherical fashion. He didn't want to believe anyone could jump out of the arena – it was reasonably tall – but he knew, that if anyone could do it, it would be that man. Stoick. Artemis shuddered and returned to pestering Hiccup.

"Come on, you have got to at least formulate the entirety of the plan to the people involved in it. Otherwise I won't be able to say whether or not it actually has a chance to succeed."

"You know, Artemis? You speak strangely. Not the usual kind of Norse, that's for sure. As for your question, I believe it is time to tell you what is to be expected of you in this plan." Hiccup presented the barrel filled to the brim with fish. "You just get in and I carry you through the village."

Artemis was a bit disturbed by this plan. He could see a number of things that could go wrong and… Norse! "Waitwaitwait, did you say Norse? Do I speak Norse?"

Hiccup stared at him. He began wondering if his newfound friend had lost his mind when his father had hit him. Hiccup could still see the huge black mark underneath Artemis' left eye. It looked bad, but he decided to roll with Artemis' question: "Yeah, you do. Why do you ask?"

Artemis was irritated. Not at the boy's question, which was perfectly sensible, but at his inability to realize he had also somehow gained the fairies ability to speak all languages and understand the same languages, as if they were his own. The possibilities for experimenting with this power would have been endless had he just known a few hours earlier. Now he was trying to figure out a sensible way of evading Hiccup's concerns for his mental state. "I ask, because…" Artemis sighed, not willing to test his supposed aid's patience again with another lie and simply said: "You will understand, should I decide to tell you of my story. Now, as for your plan; I have a few more questions…"

"But those will have to remain unspoken. My father will most likely be coming back pretty soon, when he has thought of how to deal with you. Therefore, if you value your life, get in the barrel."

Artemis made a motion to complain, but decided against it as he realized Hiccup was right – time was of the essence. Grumbling, Artemis moved to the barrel and after pulling the lid off, he jumped into the barrel filled with a various assortment of fish. A number of fish fell out of the barrel and onto the arena floor. Artemis tried to make himself comfortable, but it was an impossibility. Though he tried to avoid using words such as "always", "never" and "impossible", it just wasn't possible to enjoy the situation Artemis was in. He had basically crawled into a coffin; if Hiccup decided he was too much trouble, Artemis would have no way of reacting to being thrown off a cliff. If Artemis was discovered, he would have no way of reacting to being axed to death or smashed to death by some random person. Even if the plan succeeded, Artemis predicted they would spend half the night running away from a rabid bear because of the absolute horrid smell. The smell was inescapable, it was everywhere.

Hiccup dumped a couple of fish on top of Artemis as a precaution, and then lifted the barrel. It wasn't much heavier than he was used to, Artemis was luckily very light, and Hiccup stumbled towards the forest balancing the big barrel. As they reached the village, Artemis suddenly made a spitting sound. Hiccup hushed him, but Artemis couldn't help but throw in a snide remark. "How would you like to sit in the stink barrel?"

Hiccup chuckled, but immediately stopped laughing, when the door to him and his father's house opened and Stoick stepped out. If Stoick caught him helping "the spy"… Hiccup didn't want to imagine what would happen and tried to just casually pass by his father. Failing the attempt, of course.

"Hiccup, what are you doing?"

Hiccup froze, what had he done? Was it possible his father knew Artemis was in the barrel? Could he smell him? No, those are paranoid thoughts, of course my father doesn't know… as long as I don't screw up. Hiccup turned around: "I… eh… I just… Fish!" Stoick stared incredulously at him, as if he had lost his mind.

"I… just wanted to help delivering fish to the hungry families, Dad. Fish," Hiccup repeated holding up the barrel to show his father the fish.

Artemis was completely quiet. Every thought he might have had about bad smelling fish and barrels being thrown off cliffs were gone. His only thought was to somehow quiet his heart, which had suddenly become extremely loud. He was panicking, but only silently. Every second seemed to drag to a halt, and when Hiccup had stumbled through the most obvious lie in history, Artemis knew he was done for.

Artemis didn't know Stoick though. Stoick just accepted the answer. Stoick was already thinking about how to make "the spy" talk and talking with Hiccup, made him feel tired. Stoick was still a bit exhausted from the Vikings recent attempt at finding the dragons' Nest, and the only reason he hadn't gone to sleep yet, was because he felt he needed to deal with the threat to his village now, rather than later. "Fine, Hiccup, just go to sleep soon. You don't want to miss training, do you now?"

Hiccup answered with a standard "No, Dad," and only when his father had long left him he dared move another step. He still felt like he had been struck by lightning. That had been too close. If Artemis had talked at the wrong time, they would have both been screwed. Hiccup sighed, relieved, and then said to the barrel: "Don't speak until it's safe, please."

Artemis didn't answer. He was still a bit shaken at the close call. He had actually been joking about his bad luck when it came to the best laid plans, but he didn't think it would actually be an issue. Artemis began calming down when Hiccup whispered: "Close to the forest…" He continued to ponder – as he had done before he had been interrupted by an especially foul smelling fish getting into his mouth, as he tried to breathe – over the day so far. He thought of his newly found power of the languages. He thought of Stoick's cruelty and Hiccup's possible friendship. He thought of seeing his family again… His mind wandered to the thought, that he may never see his family again. He immediately scolded himself; for even considering that and for using the "never" word. Of course he would see them again. He was a Fowl, and a Fowl could make the impossible possible.

Hiccup was walking towards the edge of the forest, when a foot suddenly tripped him. He desperately tried to hold onto the basket, but it wasn't possible to regain balance and he dropped the barrel with a massive crash. Luckily it landed upright, and though Hiccup heard Artemis curse, he decided Artemis wasn't discovered… yet. He looked up, confused and saw that it was Astrid who had tripped him. Hiccups mind blanked. He had always thought Astrid was everything he wasn't. She was strong, he was weak and it had been like that since before anything Hiccup could remember. However since he had "picked up" Toothless, he had learnt a few tricks about dragons, and Astrid was not having any of it. She had become extremely competitive, and every time Hiccup somehow managed to beat a dragon before her (which was basically every time), she hated herself and trained even harder. Hiccup had hoped to someday be accepted by her, as he was secretly in love with her, but right now he felt more hated than loved.

Astrid glared at him. "What are you doing?"

"I… er… I… I was just… walking."

"What's in the barrel?"

Hiccup was sweating. "Just… just fish," he said nervously.

"Oh, and what do you plan on doing, going on a walk in the forest with a barrel of fish?"

"I… I… wasn't going to…"

"No. You weren't. You have some sort of secret and you have five minutes to tell me the secret, otherwise I will talk with my father, who will then discuss it with yours!"

"Please Astrid, don't…"

"Oh no, I'm not calming down until you give me an answer. I know that your secret has something to do with your sudden power in training, and I am not going to be here for very long, you know."

Hiccup was in a bad position. He didn't want to reveal Artemis, but he didn't want his father involved either. What could he do? "Astrid, listen, I… I… I make outfits. Really silly outfits and I would appreciate it if my father didn't know about it. He's… not really one for sewing and that sort of thing. I could show you one if you like… but please… don't tell."

Astrid sighed. She had felt his "I'm-am-doing-something-bad"-intention when she saw him walking towards the forest. He looked like he had seen a ghost. She had also been meaning to go into the forest to her training spot – she still needed experience, if she were to beat Hiccup – but seeing Hiccup, she had decided to confront him. However she certainly didn't expect this answer. But seeing as it was Hiccup, it was definitely possible. She was about to ask him "Then why are you so good at dragon training?" but she didn't want to admit he was better than her. She could still show him at the training the next day. She definitely could; she was better, she deserved to be the one to kill her first dragon.

Astrid punched Hiccup, "That's for keeping a stupid secret," and she let her axe fall upon his solar plexus, making it bounce back up into her hand, "and that's for not telling me the entire secret." She knew he was still holding out on her, but it didn't matter, she would definitely win the next training. And then everything would be right again. As an extra insult she kicked the barrel that stood up, so it began rolling down the hill and into the forest. "Good luck catching your fish, Hiccup," and with that she left him as he lay beaten.

Artemis could feel nausea building up as he was being pushed against the barrel's walls by the power of the centripetal force. He was getting dazed by the centrifugal movement, as he went faster and faster down the hill. But Artemis didn't know a tree was coming, and so he didn't know when he should brace himself for the impact. With a sickening crack, the barrel hit the tree and cracked in half. Artemis himself roared from pain; he had broken his arm. He had been trying to push at the opposite end of the barrel, to keep him level, but as it suddenly stopped, the force of the impact had rattled his arm out of its joint and had broken it. Artemis tried to contain the pain he was feeling – if he made too much noise, all their efforts would be for naught – but the pain was overwhelming. Fish were splattered all over the forest floor. The sky was blue. The grass green. The fish grey. Artemis focused on anything besides his arm to keep himself from crying.

Hiccup quickly realized something was off, when he heard the scream from 50 yards away, just beyond the forest border. He ran to the impact site. He found Artemis writhing in the grass and surrounded by fish from the broken barrel. He was having a very pained expression, tears were escaping his eyes though he tried to keep them back and Hiccup quickly ducked over to Artemis. "Artemis, what happened?"

"Broken arm… and my arm was pulled out of its joint… need you to pull it back in…" Artemis whispered painfully. Hiccup immediately knew what he meant, and without any hesitation he grabbed the broken arm and pushed back the arm into its joint.

Artemis felt like he had just been burned with a searing iron, and he roared again. This time he could not hold back the tears. After a few minutes, he stopped crying. He felt like his arm began calming down again, slowly at first, but after a while he found he could sit up. He tried to move it as little as possible, but it still hurt – just the slightest movement and he could feel it. Artemis considered using magic to mend his broken bone, but decided against it – it was too dangerous. His experiments had showed he could heal small scars, but mending a broken bone was in an entirely different league. If he needed to he could always try later; now, he needed food and shelter.

Hiccup felt with Artemis. He himself had been exposed to some bruises in his time and he knew how painful broken bones were. He decided to bring Artemis to the hunting house, a small house inside the forest where you could find bows and arrows, and other hunting gear if you needed something else, but more importantly, there was also a first aid kit, consisting of a few painkilling herbs and some bandages. Hiccup helped Artemis to his feet, both were silent.

Hiccup decided to break the silence: "I'm sorry, Artemis. I… I didn't mean to drop you and when Astrid came by… she's my friend… but you got hurt..." Hiccup didn't know how to finish.

Artemis forced a smile. "It could be worse, you know. We weren't discovered, so you kept your end of the deal. But… you wouldn't happen to know, if there are any bandages somewhere. I would like to keep this arm still, but it seems I can't do it while moving. And some food, I haven't eaten all day."

"Of course I know! We're going there now, see." He pointed to the roof of a wooden hut a little ways forward that could just barely be seen because of the trees.

Artemis just accepted the fact with a straight face, trying to keep himself from making a wrong move. "Then, lets get going. You'll get your story, Hiccup. I need someone I can talk to and though you are a godawful liar, you seem clever enough."

Hiccup beamed, glad Artemis was warming up. He had been right to trust Artemis. He picked up the broken barrel, gathered a couple of fish and said: "Yes, lets get going."

Stoick threatening Artemis with breaking his arm (ch.3), and it actually happens O_O. The irony. I've never tried breaking my arm, so the description could be totally wrong. I've never actually broken anything now that I think about it . The hunting hut wasn't in the movie, it's something I made up for convenience. Besides, I think a hunting hut could be needed in the village, if not for hunting, then for a hiding place for the children, or something. If you liked this, please tell. If not, then constructive criticism is also appreciated.