Chapter Seven
A/N: This chapter was sooooooooo fun to write! I hope you guys like it! :D (GORE WARNING!)
In response to...
samsamwww: Lol, yeah, I love awkwardly adorable moments between Snotlout and Hiccup. XD I wish there were more in the series as well. (And yes! The Fishlegs hug was incredibly funny! XD)
InfinitiumAce: By cross-species, I mean it doesn't exactly *look like* a dragon... (If I'm not mistaken, you get a clearer image of it in this chapter...or the next one, I don't remember.) And yeah, Hiccup's leadership skills come in handy here. Kinda... As for the longer stories, errr...I guess I could give it try if I think of a suitable plot. :)
xInsertCreativeUsernamex: Lol, hoarder-Sirens... XD
Cottonmouth25: Yup, I'm not as bad as I used to be but I still HATE getting water on my face and I almost never go to the pool/beach. Even though there's a public pool only about fifteen minutes from my house... I agree with you on that one, humans have no business in the water. XD
Breyannia: ...just..Stoick spanking Hiccup... WHY IS THAT IMAGE SO AMUSING?! XD
TheGallopingCupcake: Lol, you'll see what happens when Stoick eventually finds him... XD
"RAHHHHH!" The captive Vikings scream their battle cries as they charge the tunnel, their makeshift weapons striking the air as they pump their fists excitedly. They're going to get out of here! Even if it kills them!
"Come on, bud!" Hiccup shouts over the roar of the crowd, hopping onto his dragon's back to take the lead. Hopefully, he and Toothless can clear a path for everyone else. That should make escape a little easier.
They burst onto the muddy sandbar and are immediately greeted by the outraged hisses of the Sirens, who are just barely visible below the murky water. The pools begin to thrash as dorsal fins split the surface, purple mist spraying upward along with icy droplets of water that pelt Hiccup's face as he rides by.
His eyes narrow in concentration at the sight of a long, black tentacle exploding out of the frothy pond. He can still feel its grip around his ankle and he shivers. "NOW, TOOTHLESS!" He hears the telltale shriek of a charging plasma blast and holds his breath, silently praying his dragon has had time to build up more shots.
Then-
POW!
There's a pained howl and the tentacle disappears back into the water as a brilliant flash of light illuminates the cave. "YEAH!" Hiccup cheers triumphantly. "Way to go, bud!"
Toothless's pupils are mere slits in his eyes but he coos at his Rider's praises and fans open his wings a little to create a kind of shield on both sides of his fragile human. The Night Fury's ears fold back and he picks up speed, his throat already screaming as he prepares another bolt of fire.
He has to use it a split second later when, this time, an actual leg -complete with talons and scales- shoots out of the water next to him and rakes its claws along his side, shedding a few of his own black scales.
"You okay, Toothless?" Hiccup asks as he cranes to see the damage but Toothless only growls and keeps running. It's obvious these 'Sirens' don't use their claws much. They're dull and rounded and barely even made a scratch on his tough hide.
Hiccup smirks at his friend's determination and turns around to check on everyone else. Despite their sickly appearances, they're still Vikings. And there's one thing Vikings are good at: fighting for their lives. The captives grunt and shout with the thrill of battle as they smack away tentacles and clawing appendages. Hiccup even finds himself chuckling proudly when Astrid herself smashes a reptilian foot into the ground with the handle of a broken battle-axe she found.
Soon, the cave is filled with pained growls and yelps as the Sirens slowly retreat deeper into the pools of water, which are beginning to cloud over with dark red blood. From what Hiccup can tell, no humans have fallen. They're actually winning this fight!
I guess the Sirens are more accustomed to luring one person at a time, not fighting a small army all at once. He realizes with a please grin. We might actually get out of here with our lives intact!
But Hiccup really should know not to count his chickens before they've hatched... Because in the very next instant, he hears a terrified scream and whips around just in time to see Astrid dangling upside down by her ankle, in the grip of a writhing tentacle.
"ASTRID!" He cries as his heart leaps into his throat. Toothless skids to a halt and barrels back in her direction. They don't quite make it in time to stop her perilous fall to the ground as the Siren slams her back down again, and Hiccup winces at the sickening sound of bone breaking as his friend screams in pain.
Astrid's eyes are closed as the Siren begins dragging her toward the water. Its tentacle is hacked away at by the other Vikings and a few grab the girl's shoulders to stop her from being pulled into the water. Toothless is quick to join them and he bites down on the collar of her shirt, yanking her backwards.
But the tentacle is unrelenting and Hiccup's eyes grow wide at the sight of her ankle. It's completely bent in the wrong direction and blood is pouring from her torn skin. And to make matters worse, that same snapped appendage is now suffering the full brunt of a tug-of-war between a sea monster, a handful of Vikings, and an angry dragon.
Even now, he can see more of her skin tearing. If he doesn't end this soon...he won't be the only Dragon Rider with a peg leg!
So with a determined scowl, Hiccup slides off his dragon's back and grabs a broken sword one of the Vikings dropped when they scrambled to grab onto Astrid. Its tipped may be snapped on but its edges are still razor sharp. He races down to where the tentacle is laying against the edge of the sandbar and grimaces at what he's about to do.
Then, he angles back his arm and slices straight into the Sirens appendage, earning a...morbidly satisfying scream from the beast. Blood spurts from its torn flesh but it refuses to release its prey. So Hiccup does the only thing he can...and finishes what he started. With one more messy cut, the Siren howls in agony as its tentacle is severed. The beast rears out of the water for a moment, its black eyes squeezed shut as it shrieks once again and Hiccup scrambles backwards with a yelp of fear as its other tentacle lashes out at him, just barely missing his face.
But then it falls back into the thrashing pool in a cloud of blood and disappears, the rest of the Sirens following suit because they, too, are injured from the battle with the Vikings.
Hiccup struggles to steady his breathing and fights the overwhelming urge to vomit right then and there. His hands are sticky with blood as he can't stop staring at the still twitching tentacle laying beside him. Stars flash in his vision and for a while, he's sure he's going faint... But then he hears Astrid moan quietly and he snaps back into reality.
He slowly turns around to find her curled up on her side, gripping her broken ankle and shaking almost as bad as he is. "Astrid...!" He breathes and he scrambles over to her. Her face is pale but her eyes shimmer with pain when she opens them to find Hiccup hovering over her. "Gods, are you okay?" He asks.
She scowls at him and chokes out. "My ankle is broken. No, I'm not okay!"
Oddly enough, he finds himself smiling at her aggressiveness. "Don't worry, you can ride on Toothless. We'll get you out of here."
She nods jerkily and gasps in pain when Cowlick carefully picks her up and carries her over to Toothless, who obediently bows his head to allow her on his back. "Are the Sirens gone?" She demands, craning her neck to see past the crowd.
"Yes." Hiccup assures her. "We scared them off."
"Oh, good..." She mutters as she drops her head onto Toothless's back and shuts her eyes again, probably to pass out from the pain.
This time, everyone manages to find their way out of the cave and, soon, the tired, shaken Vikings are standing out in open moonlight gaping at the sight of a docile Monstrous Nightmare being hugged by Snotlout. Everyone but the Berkians, of course.
"Amazin'...!"
"They've tamed dragons...!"
Hiccup sighs as he trudges out beside them, his legs aching with all the walking and running he's had to do today. He grimaces as the foreign Vikings stare at Hookfang questioningly. We're going to have a lot of explaining to do to convince them not to say anything...
But for now, he simply shuffles over to the front of the beach and lifts his arms to gain everyone's attention. "Alright, listen up everyone!" He calls. "We've only got two dragons to work with for now so only a few of you can go on this first trip. But I'll have more sent on the way back. You'll all get taken to safety, I promise!"
"So who gets to go first?!" Someone snaps.
"Yeah! Who gets to leave right now?!" By the tone of their voices, Hiccup can tell he'll need to give them an answer immediately, otherwise risk everyone getting into a huge fight.
"The sickest go first!" He announces. "And the injured!" At the logic in his words, the rowdy Vikings settle down a bit and part for a few thin, pale people to come stumbling forward. They look like sacks of bones, their eyes all sunken in and surrounded by shadows. He has to wonder how long they've been kept in that cave...
The first of them crowd Hookfang's back, desperately gripping his back to stay balanced as Snotlout arrogantly chats to them about how he's the one who trained him and how his dragon listens to no one but him! To prove it, he orders Hookfang to open his wings. But that only earns him flaming pants, which he has to put out in the ocean off the side of beach.
Hiccup shakes his head at his cousin and vaguely wonders why he was so worried about him as he sits down in the sand to rest his throbbing feet...er...foot.
"Hiccup," Astrid mumbles as she tries to sit up, only to wince in pain. "What are you doing? We don't exactly have time to burn, hop on." She says, patting the saddle in front of her. But Hiccup only shakes his head.
"Toothless can't carry as many passengers as Hookfang can and there are still a lot of really ill people who need care. He'll be able to carry more of them if I stay behind for now."
Hearing that, his dragon whines and shuffles his feet nervously. He doesn't want to leave his precious human behind on this accursed island. Astrid seems to agree with him.
"Well that's very noble of you, Hiccup. But I can't exactly steer Toothless with this ankle of mine." She points out. "So you have to come."
Once again, he shakes his head. "It makes more sense for Ruff and Tuff to go instead. One of them can steer on the way to Berk and then they can get Barf and Belch to carry more people." He explains.
"And who's going to fly Toothless back here?" She asks him.
Hiccup sighs as he runs an embarrassed hand through his hair. "...my dad."
After the first load of passengers is flown away from the Sirens' nest, the rest follow Hiccup's lead and sit down on the beach to wait for their turn. Hopefully with more dragons, there won't be too many more trips back and forth and they can all return home by daylight.
Hiccup sighs as he draws in the sand with a stick, the shape loosely detailing what he's seen of the Siren. The sleek, flattened head. The beady blacks eyes. The fanned dorsal fin... And the two, long tentacles extending from below its jaw line. He shivers at the sight of the picture and quickly brushes it away with the heel of his boot, worriedly glancing over his shoulder for the hundredth time, as if expecting to see one of them crawling out of the cave at any moment.
But they appear to stick to the water so he really should keep his eyes straight, in the direction of the vast ocean before him where night has finally fallen. And if Astrid's theory was correct, and these things really are nocturnal hunters, then they'd better evacuate this island as soon as possible...or they're all going to be in a lot of danger.
A/N: Easily my favorite chapter so far! I hope you guys liked it as well!
...AND IT'S NOT EVEN THE CLIMAX! :D