I'm back from Florida and I think I finally killed my writer's block... for now.
We're finally getting off Berk and that was my real problem point because I just wanted to get here but I didn't know how and... thank God I'm finally here. I actually have plans for the next chapter too, other than to get closer to an important point. Should be a nice change for me after my problems with writing this story for awhile there...
Anyway, I got back to the length I like these chapters to be at this time around and I hope you like the update. Enjoy~! :)
"Hello there, Hiccup." Alvin purred "I'm glad you accepted my request."
"Wait…" Hiccup took a step back "How'd you know that I'm the one you want?"
"I had some… inside help." Alvin smirked. He gestured for someone to come into the light with him. And who came into her view… was none other than Dagur the Deranged.
"I should have known." Hiccup scoffed "I should have known you were up to something!"
"I guess you found out too late." The Berserker flashed his fiendish grin, which only grew as he reached behind him and drew his axe.
"Seize the Dragon Conqueror!" Alvin bellowed.
In that moment, every Outcast and Berserker that could enclose on the small Hooligan did exactly that. Hiccup weighed the stakes as the world around her began to slow to a halt. She was greatly outnumbered, even if her friends managed to break through the wall of warriors and could attempt to help her fight them off. But, even so, Hiccup was never a fighter. That's how she became the "Dragon Conqueror" anyway, by not being the Viking she was taught to be. And, even if she was, she would still be defenseless because there was no weapon at her disposal. Well, except for her dainty hands that could barely lift a sword… or anything that would make a sizeable weapon. There was no winning, no clever escape plan, no way out. There was only one thing that could possibly save her from the oncoming pulverizing.
"Alvin!" She screeched. "What do you want me to do?" She put on a brave face and a stern tone to mask her fear.
That was when the crowd parted and made a path for their chiefs to approach her "What do I want?" Alvin repeated "What do I want?!" Hiccup tried to make herself smaller and balled her fists to her chest "I want you to train me dragons; then move on to tame the ones on Berserk."
She mulled over the idea for a moment, releasing her fists from their defensive position "And then where?" Hiccup crossed her arms "The Peaceable Islands, perhaps?"
"You'll have to see now, won't you?" Alvin countered.
Hiccup looked around her and noted that her friends were about to pounce from their hiding places. In the other direction, she saw the trapped dragons were desperately trying to break free, now setting fire to some of the bars in a desperate effort to melt them. She had to do this… she had to.
"If I cooperate with you, will you release the dragons and leave Berk alone?" She quizzed.
"On me word." The Outcast claimed.
Another pause to think "Then I'll go." Hiccup replied "No fight needed. Just leave Berk and its dragons alone."
Alvin turned to Dagur "Well, you heard her. Release the beasts." The Berserker reluctantly complied, a quiet growl being his only protest "Get her on board. We're headed home, boys!"
Seconds after their leader's command, two massive Outcasts grabbed Hiccup by the arms and dragged her onboard the ship, which Hiccup observed was the largest of a small armada that was anchored on the back end of Berk's beaches. She was lugged below deck by the brutes and, after a few violent turns, was tossed her into a small jail cell. The heir to the Hooligan tribe was now under lock and key.
"That oughta hold her." One of the Outcasts commented.
"Get comfy, Dragon Conqueror." The other ordered "It's gonna be the last time you can." He exchanged gruff smirks with his partner before they left her.
Astrid couldn't believe what she had seen from her perch in the tree! Hiccup was surrounded in all directions and she had given the signal for herself and the rest of the small army of Vikings to prepare for attack. And just as they were about to leap from the shadows they were hiding in to assist their friend, Hiccup let out a shout that made every assailant stop in their tracks and make a path for Alvin (no surprise there) and… Dagur…?
The Hofferson girl's lips thinned into a line at the display before her and signaled for the others to hold their ground for just a little longer. What's going on here? She pondered The Berserkers are supposed to be aligned with us. And Dagur sure doesn't look like a captive. It was then that the topic of her thoughts gave an obvious huff and strode over to a massive cage that contained all of the missing dragons. Now what?
It was Alvin's turn to shout. Astrid turned her attention back to Hiccup and acknowledged that she wasn't resisting the two guards' grips on her arms as she was taken on board the ship. The trio disappeared below deck without a sign of struggle from Hiccup. Confusion only grew at the sight. What is happening around here?
It wasn't until she heard a clang and countless roars fill the air that the events she had just witnessed made sense. She saw Dagur standing by the cage of dragons that was emptying more frantically by the second. He didn't seem too happy about what was happening in front of him. He must have opened it while she was watching Hiccup. Then… it clicked in her mind. Hiccup had turned herself over to them! She must have made some kind of deal. This was Hiccup, after all. She would do almost anything for Berk and that "almost" was excluded when it came to dragons.
"Astrid!" Snotlout hissed as loudly as he could below her "Are we doing this or not?"
She peered down from her perch and observed Dagur and the remainder of the Vikings on the beach climb onto the set of three boats and begin to hoist up their anchors. "No." She whispered back "We have to go find the chief and tell him what's going on." She jumped from the branch and started to run for the village.
"Why?" Fishlegs asked as he crawled out of the bushes he hid underneath.
"You didn't see what just happened?" She interrogated.
Fishlegs shook his head. "They took Hiccup?"
"She gave herself up." Astrid corrected.
All of the teens exchanged uncertain looks before rushing back to the village as fast as their feet could take them. The chief had to know that his daughter was taken hostage by none other than their worst enemy and their fifty year ally.
Hiccup quickly scanned over the tiny cell and found nothing inside of it but herself and an old, tattered sail that she guessed was supposed to serve as a blanket. She lifted it, finding nothing underneath it; the same result came from sifting for anything that might be useful on the floor. She may have agreed to be a prisoner of both the Berserkers and the Outcasts, but that didn't mean she would mope around in her cell without plans for an emergency escape. These were two of the most ruthless tribes in the whole archipelago, after all. It would be stupid to not have a strategy. But what was at her disposal would be of no help at all. The best she could do was wait out the ride to Outcast Island and pray that where they would hold her there would be of more use.
The Hooligan heiress sat against one of the wooden walls of her cell and did her best to find a comfortable position. She was used to resting on hard surfaces on Berk, but it has always been a whole different story when on a boat. Granted, on Hooligan ships she would have a seat or would just be standing with her father for most of the journey, but the feeling of riding a boat never sat quite right with her. She had always had an acute seasickness; for as long as she could remember, she had never handled herself in the best way when riding the seas.
It usually didn't bother her. But on a night like her first night on the Outcast ship, her nausea nearly got the best of her. She could hear Thor's thunder crashing outside the wood walls of the ship and could occasionally see them flash with a vengeance outside the small porthole that became her only light source when the torches went out. The obviously monstrous waves rammed against the vessel and made it toss and turn in the churning waters. That was how the whole evening went for Hiccup: enduring seasickness by hiding underneath her sail blanket. Somewhere during the experience she wished she didn't have to withstand, her head slipped to the ground and her heavy eyes closed for the storm's end.
When she was awakened by a loud thud from above deck and the sunlight hit her eyes for the first time in hours, the seas were much calmer. Hiccup deflected some of the light from her eyes with her hand, noting that the sun was partially to blame, before rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes. She found the sail had been tossed to the other side of the cell, or dragged there by the rocking of the boat, and blamed that for the chill taking over her body.
From that spawned a very boring and lonely morning for the small captive. Most of her earlier hours were spent pacing the area of her holding space and staring out the porthole in some desperate attempt for entertainment. No one so much as passed by her for hours. Funny, she thought she was some kind of prize to them right now. You'd think they would want to ensure that she stayed put; not that she could do much to escape with what she had, but the point still stood.
It was even more annoying that no one had come by because her hunger had finally started to make itself known to her within the past hour or two. She hadn't eaten since before she was taken on board the damned ship in the first place. Who could she complain about that to if there was no one but herself and maybe a few rats hiding under boxes that littered the area outside her cell. In a moment of defeat, Hiccup pulled her knees to her chest and rested her head on them. Though they did almost nothing to subdue the growls coming from her very vocal stomach, they did offer her just the bit of comfort that she grew to need in this time alone.
She didn't know how long she stayed in that position; only that it was disturbed by a bang that sounded like a door slamming shut and the rhythm of heavy footsteps coming closer and closer. Someone was finally going to come near her! Her only hope at this point was that whoever it was had food for her. She wasn't sure how much longer she could go without trying to eat the sail.
Her hopes weren't high at all; she didn't even think she had any. But who came around the corner crushed all of them.
"Dagur." Hiccup snarled "What are you doing down here?"
"Alvin told me to feed you." He remarked. Not much later, he tossed something wrapped in a rag inside the cage.
Hiccup took it gingerly, never taking her eyes off of Dagur, and unwrapped the cloth. Inside it, she found a chicken leg and a few kinds of berries. Well, she got the food she was hoping she'd get… but from the person she wanted nothing to do with anymore "Thanks." She spat.
"You're lucky Alvin wants you alive." The Berserker stated "If he didn't, I might have been offended."
Hiccup huffed and started picking at the berries "Please, if you wanted to kill me, you would have by now. You've had, what, three chances to kill me already this week?"
Hiccup might have been seeing things weirdly, but she could have sworn she saw Dagur falter a bit after that came out of her mouth. It was almost like she proved a point that was not-so-obvious to him, which is weird considering who she's talking to. Dagur seemed to always have a plan and know what's going on around him. I guess when you're deranged, you get to very vigilant of your surroundings.
He turned his gaze away from her, suddenly finding the wall interesting "Whatever. My job's done here." He swung around the corner and out of sight almost too quickly to be natural. It was like he couldn't wait to get away from her. Hiccup could tell that her remark had done something to him somehow… but she couldn't place what.