Yup, here you go. The only reason I wrote this whole thing in one evening was because a certain someone convinced me too. So happy birthday, Caylee! Love ya, sister!
Chapter 8: Ships
Night School was cancelled that evening. After the Berserker raid, no one was in the mood for a friendly chat and a beer. Fortunately, there were no casualties, and only a few major injuries. The Berserkers had retreated quickly, and Astrid was mulling this fact over and over in her head.
She was sitting on the edge of one of Berk's cliffs, Stormfly's head in her lap, purring contentedly. The sun had just sunk over the horizon, the sky melting into a deeper shade of blue every second. She opened her mouth, about to ask Hiccup what he thought. With a start, she remembered that she was alone. She frowned. She reminded herself that he was probably back at the village, sorting out the aftermath.
Her frown only grew when she realized she hadn't seen him at all during the skirmish. Or Toothless. Surely he wasn't still with Eret; he wouldn't leave Berk to fend for itself. Astrid scratched at Stormfly's scales. "C'mon girl, let's go find Hiccup." Stormfly blinked up at her with yellow eyes, then scrambled to her feet, happy to take a flight.
"What do you mean, the ship's gone?" Astrid had her fist full of Tuffnut's shirt.
"Yeah, it just vanished. Guess Eret left during the raid." Unperturbed by the fact that he was dangling a foot in the air by a very angry Viking girl with an ax, he grinned at his sister.
Ruffnut burst into tears, and instantly Snotlout and Fishlegs were at her side, cooing and fussing over her.
"It's okay, I'm here."
"Yeah, Eret could never compare with this hunk of Viking, anyway."
Astrid dropped the twin. He, nor any of the other Vikings had seen Hiccup during the raid, or anytime afterwards. So where was he?
Astrid gripped her ax tighter, marching towards Hiccup's home. He'd better have one heck of an explanation, Odin help him.
Valka was tending to an injured Zippleback when Astrid found her, a young Viking anxiously petting Cloudjumper as he watched Vaka examine his dragon.
The mother of the chief smiled warmly at Astrid, and finished binding up the dragon's wing. The Viking happily thanked her, and Valka turned her attention to Astrid once he had left.
"Good afternoon, Astrid."
"Valka, tell me Hiccup's here." Astrid blurted out, unable to exchange pleasantries.
Valka blinked. "No, he's not. Is something wrong?"
Astrid couldn't help the groan of frustration from escaping. "No one's seen him since Eret arrived. I've asked almost everyone in the village- nobody saw him during or after the raid."
Concern crossed over the older woman's face. "I'm sure he's out with Toothless, thinking it over."
"He's going to wish he was still out with Toothless by the time I'm done with him." Astrid informed her, touching her ax. "I've been all over the island looking for him!"
If Valka was worried about Astrid harming her son, she didn't show it. "I'll keep an eye out tonight," Valka promised. "He needs to be here for Berk- most of all now."
An unspoken worry went between the two women. When would Dagur return?
Hiccup did indeed wish he was out with Toothless.
He had never been in so much pain, even after his amputation.
What seemed like hours later, the eternal fire subsided, leaving him exhausted, covered in sweat, dry-mouthed and confused. He blinked around at his surroundings, trying to get his bearings. He was in the darkness, the only light coming from a grate above him. By the looks of it, the sun had just set.
He felt around his prison- the whole thing was wooden, and not very large. It was only four paces wide and seven long. No doors, no windows, only the grate, a few feet above his head, which he guessed would still be out of reach even if he jumped. Not that he could stand up, let alone was a slight rocking motion, which confirmed Hiccup's belief that he was on a ship.
His sword and armor was gone, he was left only in his shirt, pants, and boot. They had taken his prosthetic as well.
Hiccup leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath and trying to figure out what exactly had happened.
And how he was going to get out.
I'm sorry, it's pretty short, but I figured, hey, whatever.
It's school, I've got papers, math problems, and other busywork to do. Yuck. Hope ya'lls homework load isn't too heavy.
