Chapter 11 – Jail Break
Quick AN: There's a bit of symbolism in this chapter, courtesy of the brilliant Fritz96. I'll explain it more next time, but for now I'll let you guess in reviews- we're curious to see if anyone picked up on it :)
The explosions now riddling the town were a rude awakening from the thick silence previously settled over the prison cells. Berkians listened from the dungeons as their village was raided and destroyed, frustration and anger palpable among them at their common inability to do anything about it. A people accustomed to being in the midst of a fray, they were growing restless at being forced to sit on the sidelines, immobile and defenseless.
Bang, bang, bang.
The building shook with a blast of some kind. Everyone's eyes searched the ceiling as thick smoke started seeping through the wooden beams, a rabid fire beginning to devour the roof. Occupants began to wail as their imminent fate became apparent: they were helpless, and no one was coming to save them.
"We're gonna die!" Snotlout cried.
"Oh, stop being such a baby," Gobber huffed. "You need to do what all Vikings do in these types of situations." Using both metal and flesh appendage, he grasped the bars on the cell door and yanked. "Help!"
It was at that moment that a frenzied-looking Astrid barreled through the dungeon door, much to the inhabitants' delight. As several voices yelled to her for help, her hands searched desperately among the cupboards for Berk's means of escape.
"Key, key, key…" she mumbled frantically, anxiety making it hard to focus. Every cabinet seemed to be well-stocked with materials for restraining prisoners: ropes, gags, even bolas; but still no key. "Come on, it's gotta be around here somewhere!"
Frustration gnawing at her, she combed her fingers through her hair, and something twinkled in the corner of her eye as she did so. There! Hanging on a hook above the door, a tiny key shimmered in the light of the fire. She made a jump for it, and after a few tries succeeded in getting a firm grasp on the key to their freedom. Now to use it.
"Alright listen up!" she yelled. It took only a moment for the room to silence, everyone's eyes fixed pleadingly on her and the key in her hand. Cinders were still raining down on them, the roof creaking dangerously. "I'll set you all free, but once you're out, do not harm the dragons! Keep them occupied, but that's all!"
The villagers murmured in confusion, questioning her strange request. "Listen, the guy and his friend are both out there fighting for us," she yelled above them as she moved to unlock the first cage, "because he believes Berk is worth saving. If we want the freedom he's offering, this is what we have to do." The first of the cage doors swung open and the inhabitants nodded, trusting her.
By the time she reached the end of the isle, the smoke in the burning building was thick and unforgiving on the lungs. Astrid burst into a coughing fit as she fiddling with the lock of the cell teens' cell. Finally open, the group rushed out, cheering passing thanks at her.
Gobber reached out his flesh hand to pat her through the bars as she made to open the final cell. "Easy, lass," he whispered, his eyes proud. When at last they were all free, he hobbled out and raced after the exodus with a virtuous war cry.
Astrid looked toward her chief, the last prisoner. "Come on," she urged, holding out her hand.
Before either of them could make another move, a weakened support beam collapsed suddenly and the building was consumed with the fire. Stoick huddled protectively over Astrid and the two made it out of the dungeon just before the whole place collapsed. Panting in the mercifully smoke free air, both noticed the village swarmed with dragons and Vikings, thoroughly engaged with one another. True to Astrid's requirement, villagers engaged the creatures with no apparent intent for blood; a few had begun capturing them in nets and bolas, others following their lead.
"Where is he?" Stoick gasped.
Astrid glanced at him, still breathing heavily. "Doing what he knows best," she replied simply, turning to run into the chaos.
Dodging through the tangle of dragons and Villagers, she made her way to the village center. Still not an Outcast in sight. What does she do from here? Was this supposed to provide the opportunity to stop Alvin? Where was Alvin?
But more importantly, where was Hiccup?
A huff from behind caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on edge; turning, she found a familiar blue Nadder squawking and tilting its head as it watched her. What was she supposed to do? Tentatively she reached out a hand as she imagined Hiccup doing. To her relief, the Nadder nudged it encouragingly. She smiled.
Abruptly, a resounding screeched echoed through the air, stilling the action.
"Night Fury!" the cry rang out.
"Get down!"
Hooligans stepped away from the captured dragons, gabbing up bolas and aiming them warily at the black expanse of night sky. Astrid searched the sky.
...
Hiccup steered Toothless to a perch overlooking the village after they lit the jail on fire. It took a few tense moments of waiting and he began to worry, but before long he saw the Vikings escaping. None stopped for weapons before occupying the raiding dragons, making Hiccup wonder if Astrid had told them not to.
His throat closed up immediately at the sight of his father standing next to Astrid. Even after she ran off a moment later, Hiccup watched the Chief of Berk. Stoick stood there a moment, looking out of sorts as he watching the chaos. Then suddenly he jolted to action, dashing off into the fight.
A strident clamor on the other end of the village drew his attention next, where he saw Alvin in front of the Great Hall. The Outcast leader was attacking a Zippleback, and the dragon was clearly losing the fight. Eventually it was restrained by Outcast henchmen, who looked to their chief to make the kill. But Alvin turned away from his prize unexpectedly, and Hiccup followed his gaze—
Dad!
He nudged Toothless. "Come on, Bud!"
The two took flight, speeding through the air with an aerial screech. Hiccup kept his eyes trained on his father, ignoring the cries of Berk down below even as the occasional bola zipped past them. Glancing down below, he spotted Astrid running toward the Great Hall with some of the villagers following her. Oh, not you, too...
Stoick was glaring at Alvin. "Where's my son?" he demanded.
"That's what I'd like to know," Alvin laughed at him, signaling to his men. Quickly they tackled his father, binding him.
Hiccup directed Toothless low, close enough to the ground that they might've been visible by firelight, but that was not his concern. The wind rushing in his ears, he yelled to Toothless to blast between his dad and Alvin; the shot caught their attention.
Stoick looked after the retreating dragon, no doubt in his mind about who he carried; by the look on Alvin's face, the Outcast leader knew as well. Noises of commotion made him turn to see their audience, the squawking and flapping of dragons forgotten behind them as the creatures struggled out of their nets and made for the sky. The horizon was now tinted with a light glow— sunrise.
There was uncertain silence for a moment before Stoick turned back to glare at Alvin again. Before either of them could say another word, Savage suddenly came up beside his master, looking unhappy to be the bearer of bad news.
"Sir, the dungeon was burned down."
Alvin growled. That runt is messing with me.
"What should we do?"
All was silent as they waited for his decree. Noticing the Berkians steeling themselves for a fight, Astrid turned fully to face them all and shook her head grimly, silently warning them all to wait; it wasn't time yet. Fortunately most caught her silent plea, and those who did spread the message around.
After a grueling contemplation, the treacherous leader finally answered. "I want all guards on watch. They stay in their houses."
"And what about the food?" Savage questioned.
He growled again before turning and striding back to his lair. "No one leaves the village."
"And Stoick?"
Alvin paused. Said chief stood watching with narrowed eyes as the Outcast leader turned back and looked at him. "Keep him in house arrest," he sneered. "We'll deal with him later."
As Astrid shuffled to her house with everyone else, she stopped to watch as the chief as he was roughly shoved inside his home. Something beyond that caught her eye; looking, she saw Hiccup in the shadows of the forest, his eyes seeking hers. When he saw her attention on him he nodded. She nodded back tightly and watched him retreat, her mind busily planning on how to carry out his message…
...
In the now-moonlit cove, the boy and his dragon waited. While the Night Fury was curled up and resting peacefully, his rider stood fiddling with an elegant bow. The ground was littered with arrows from previous attempts and failures, but still Hiccup brought the bow back against the string; the equipment was shaking.
Toothless lifted his head up, paused a moment, then settled back down again as Hiccup released the string. The arrow snapped against the wooden arch of the bow with a loud snap and the arrow fell to the ground with the others. Hiccup sighed dejectedly.
"You're pulling it back too far."
Hiccup started and whipped around at the sudden voice. Astrid came to his side.
"Try again," she encouraged softly. Hiccup, not quite recovered from her sudden appearance, put another arrow against the string and pulled.
"Now just pull back until the back of the tip," she instructed, putting her right hand over his, guiding it, "until it's just before the front of the bow. No, your other hand is too high." She placed her left hand on top of his and eased it down a little. "You don't want the arrow to rest on it. Now, bring the arrow near your cheek." He hesitated. "No, it's not gonna hurt you. Now it should line up with your eyesight, and that'll improve your aim."
As she watched him he turned his head to look at her. Those mysterious emerald eyes drew her in, so startlingly deep and calming and full of life. Astrid suddenly became hyperaware of how very close they were to one another.
"And then release," she murmured, jerking her head away.
The arrow flew swift and sure, piercing the heart of Hiccup's makeshift target.
They were still for a moment more as Hiccup stared at the successful shot in awe. Astrid laughed, backing away and brushing her bangs out of her eyes.
"Worked a bit better that time, didn't it?" she teased.
"Thanks," Hiccup managed, still dazed. His reverie broke at the sound of an amused huff from Toothless where he lay observing the two, his tail swishing in light interest. "I wanna show you something," Hiccup told her, making for his dragon.
She followed him over, taking a seat beside him, both resting comfortably against the creature's warm side. He slipped his notebook out from his vest and opened it up to a page displaying a hand-drawn map. Her eyes traveled from the island in the lower middle labeled BERK, to the crude shape on the right labeled DRAGON ISLAND, to the top left quarter of the page marked GRANDFATHER'S ISLAND.
Pencil in hand, he began explaining his plan. Pointing to one island and referring to another, he sketched a diagram to illustrate how each point of the triangle played a part.
Astrid watched, engaged in the conversation and glancing in turn between his face and the map. In following his hand as it drew a new line, an observation suddenly occurred to her.
"Hold on," she forestalled, turning to face him better. He paused. "You use you left hand."
Hiccup stared back at her, not understanding. "Uh, I guess so," he confirmed. He turned his left hand over, looking at it. "I just always have. But what does that have to do with-"
"Come here." She grabbed his wrist and tugged him to his feet, steering them back over to the archery target, all the while ignoring his noises of protests.
Placing the bow in his hands and snatching up an arrow, she instructed, "Try pulling back with your left hand."
His equipment now in hand once more, Hiccup stared from the bow to Astrid as she backed away, giving him space. She motioned for him to go ahead, smiling to herself at his rather endearing expression of confusion. Hiccup sighed heavily, clearly annoyed, but proceeded nevertheless to carry out his orders.
With the bow in his right hand, he pulled back the sting; when everything was set according to the tips Astid had given him earlier, he released. After a swift flight, the arrow embedded itself firmly into the tree.
Hiccup startled, his mouth falling open as he looked to his teacher and back at the target in wonder.
Astrid grinned in triumph, settling herself on a nearby log. "You have good aim," she remarked. "Your dad would be very proud."
Hiccup's elation visibly deflated at the mention of his father. "Thanks," he whispered, eyes on the dirt at his feet.
Her eyes softened as she regarded the change. "He's worried about you," she told him softly.
Hiccup's head shot up, his eyes staring into Astrid's in shock. "You told him?"
"No, but he asked about you."
He tilted his head curiously. "Like what?"
Astrid shrugged and glanced away. "He wanted to know if I'd seen you and if you were okay."
Hiccup sat the bow down. "And what did you tell him?"
"That I saw you and you were fine. That's all." She watched him sigh and turn away. "He misses you," she added, standing.
Hiccup scoffed sadly. "That's hard to believe."
She came to his side. "Why?"
"Because..." He hesitated, searching for the right words. "Because he barely even knows me! He spends time with me only when he has to, and he never listens to me!"
"Do you listen to him?"
He faced her with a deadpan expression. "Of course I do, Astrid. He talks about what he wants me to be, what I should be, who I'm supposed to be. All he ever sees when he looks at me is disappointment."
"He sees the things you can become, his hopes and dreams for you," she corrected gently. "He wants you to be a Viking hero, Hiccup, and it's your birthright- you are the chief's son, after all."
"Thank you for summing that up," he retorted in exasperation, but she could tell he was only resorting to his sarcasm in an effort to diffuse the tension.
Astrid sighed and put her hand on his shoulder. He still wouldn't look at her. "You're missing my point," she insisted earnestly. "Your dad loves you, Hiccup."
After a moment, his head finally lifted to meet her gaze, a grateful smile spreading on his lips. She looked back with twinkling eyes, her own smile wide and bright in the reflected light of the stars.
She punched his arm.
"Ow!" He rubbed the spot tenderly, giving her an injured look. "What was that for?!"
"That was for arguing with me," she informed him seriously, though her eyes were laughing. She landed a quick kiss on his cheek. "That's for everything else."
With that she sauntered off to stretch out beside Toothless, calling to the dazed boy in her wake, "Now continue on telling me your plan while you practice. It'll help your concentration and aim."
Heyyy sup :) *waves*
Sorry it's been so long, loves ...Okay like four months long... *hangs head in shame* I'll try to be faster, though, I promise. But guess what happened in other news? I got accepted to my university of choice :D :D :D my major is pre-animation and I'm sooo excited x3
Another big thanks and lots of hugs to you lovely humans and your kind reviews :)
RazPaz
