-ON THE BACKS OF DRAGONS-
-Rescued Rider-
While Hiccup and the others talked while taking inventory of the newly won food and recourses, Fletcher went to a different part of the camp, the pens. Normally these pens were built to contain sheep or livestock, but knowing this was a Lava Lout camp Fletcher was certain he would find them full of slaves.
Sure enough he found two pens with slaves bound hand and foot. Fletcher took to cutting their bonds carefully with his hunting knife, weary of the raw skin underneath. After the captives were free Fletcher checked each and every one of them for wounds or illnesses, finding them all to be in good shape other then rope burns, dehydration, malnutrition, and lack of sleep.
They all told Fletcher however, each in their own accents, that two nights prior, the Lava Louts captured someone on this island. While the details were sketchy, they all agreed that it was a young girl who put up quite a fight and possibly a traitor. Thus she was kept separately from the others, with the guards gossiping about her fate, none of them pleasant.
Thanking them all for their aid Fletcher began his search throughout the camp for this female captive, knowing that the Lava Louts put their "special loot" where they can keep an eye on it while keeping it as isolated as possible, Fletcher checked a large tent at the edge of camp. Careful not to trip on the bodies of the two guards he killed in the opening moments of the attack, he thought earlier that this tent was a makeshift bathhouse or something.
Opening the tent Fletcher walked in, almost instantly surprised at how well the walls of the tent blocked out the sunlight as the inside was pitch black, For normal eyes that is, with his ability to see heat, Fletcher was able to see someone in a sitting position in the middle of the tent, as well as several oil lanterns to light the inside.. As he restarted each small flame, the light allowed him to examine the situation better.
She was human, had long black hair and appeared to be about fifteen years old. She was currently asleep; her closed eyes concealing their color. It was obvious she was pretty poor, not even dressed in proper clothes, as she wore the attire a beggar would, faded and full of patched holes. Unlike the other slaves who were bound with rope her hands were locked inside iron cuffs, trapping them behind the pole. The right sleeve of her tunic was ripped off at the shoulder, and tied over her mouth gagging her.
Sighing I untied the gag and slowly pulled it out of her mouth, careful not to wake her up before examining the cuffs. The one good thing Lava Louts could build better then that they plundered was locks. Yes they use them for slavery, but even Fletcher couldn't deny the impressive design put into them. Tough, unyielding to both brute force or typical lock picks. Unfortunately for them, Fletcher's lock pick is the exact opposite of typical.
Fletcher pulled a small narrow piece of deer antler out of his left gantlet, using his magic to insert it into the lock and move the tumblers inside. Upon hearing a distinct click, Fletcher removed the magic lock pick, now reshaped exactly like the key he would have needed before opening the lock on her other wrist. The heavy iron cuffs dropped to the dirt floor with a thud and clatter.
Fletcher slowly picked her up over his left shoulder, taking great notice to her moans of pain, trying to determine any injuries he failed to see in the dimly lit tent as he slowly exited.
"Medic!" He called over to the others as he approached them with the sleeping girl. While Fletcher had the most knowledge of medicine out of everyone present, calling for a medic was simply short term for stating someone needs medical aid to everyone present.
Astrid set a blanket out for the girl to lie down upon while Hiccup grabbed his medicine kit out of Toothless' saddlebag.
"How is she?" Astrid asked as Fletcher felt around the girl's body feeling for injuries.
"Bad, other then the usual she has both of her shoulders dislocated, a few broken ribs and a pretty nasty burn on her right shoulder." Fletcher reported as he started to treat her wounds.
Toothless, who like the others watched carefully suddenly turned around and growled, Stormfly and Tricktrail soon did the same. All moving to surround seemingly thin air. Knowing how pointless it was to stay hiding, a forth dragon revealed itself, it's color changing scales turning silver as a female Changewing revealed itself.
Undaunted by the strike and tracker class dragons the mystery class reptile approached the sleeping girl as Fletcher cared for her, using small acts of his blending magic to repair her ribs completely without pain.
"You know her don't you?" Hiccup asked the Changewing who silently nodded, gently creeping closer to the victim making sounds of concern. This action served as the breaking point for the Vikings doubts; unable to believe such a caring action could be done by dragons.
"Bucket, Mulch," Stoick ordered turning to the fishermen. "I want you to bring the ship around and load it with supplies, take as much as you can. Then go ahead and go home, the rest of us will go with Hiccup."
"Rider." The young man reminded. . .
-On the Backs of Dragons-
For the first time in three days, deep green eyes slowly opened, bidding farewell to truly decent sleep. Her mind still waking up, the girl questioned the strange dream she had of a green hooded man freeing her from her bonds.
It felt so real but it was simply wishful thinking The teenage girl told herself as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. There's no way I could be rescued after all, why would anyone rescue anyone who lived with dragons.
. . . Wait, What?!
Only now did she realize her newfound freedom from the iron shackles and complete change of environment. Gasping in disbelief she looked over herself and her surroundings trying to uncover what happened to her. The ragged, dirty tunic and leggings she wore had been replaced with a softer, clean, white tunic and leggings along with new shoes. The room she was in was unlike anything she'd seen before; it was well lit and cozy but seemed plain at the same time.
So someone had taken her from the camp, gave her a fresh set of clothes, and tended to her wounds. Why? The mark on her shoulder clearly marked her as a traitor to her people, one who escaped death at the hands of those she knew all her life. Was she truly free? Or did someone else take her as a prize? Or as a prisoner to take back to her tribe for reward money?
The girl froze as the door opened, sliding to the side instead of swinging open like normal. She braced herself to meet her new captor face to face; instead a face she thought she'd never see again appeared.
"Silver!" The girl screamed as she ran over and gripped the Changewing tightly. The presence of her faithful friend erasing all her fears. A calm, but pleased chuckle drew her attention to the teenager in a green cloak leaning on the doorframe.
"Nothing says loyalty like the truest bonds between dragon and rider," The teen explained as he stepped inside the room gently stroking her dragon.
"Who are you?" the girl managed to squeak out, overcome with nervousness, feeling extremely exposed and cornered by the complete stranger.
"My name is Fletcher; I was part of the team that took the camp you were in. I'm the one who treated your wounds in the field until we could get you to a complete healer. I'm the one who set you free." He introduced himself, maintaining a polite distance from her.
"Th- Thank you, I guess," The girl responded, unsure what to say or do.
As if seeing her indecision he gestured to the door, "I'd imagine you're pretty hungry for some real food, come on. We can talk more while we eat."
"Thank you, kind sir." The teen replied trying to show proper respect and manners to her savior, as embarrassing as it was.
"Drop the nobility," Fletcher laughed, "Never liked that stuff anyway."
With a massive sigh of relief she followed Fletcher out into the hallway, proceeding to stay in between him and her dragon.
"Midnight." The girl spoke softly as they came upon another door.
"Hm?"
"My name, its Midnight. . ."
Many thanks to Decode9 for his OCs Midnight and Silverstar.