Hello my lovely readers! Sorry for the long delay but this chapter was taking forever to write. It's the climax and I had an idea in my head of how I wanted it to go and every time I went back to edit, I found something I didn't like.
Anyway, enjoy this long, long, (hopefully) exciting chapter! XD
Gratification filled Drago as he watched the teen's skin grow taut against his muscles and bones, his breathing becoming shallow as the machine sucked every ounce of power and energy out of him. He was finally achieving everything he had planned for and he was going to enjoy every minute of it.
He looked to the computer screen beside him and saw that the blizzard had stretched across almost half of the globe, the southern locations starting to feel the temperature dropping rapidly as it inched its way towards them. He smiled as he watched through the hacked cameras the panic on the politician's faces as they tried to think of any other way to avoid becoming his slaves only to realize they had no choice but to surrender to him.
"Sir," a man interrupted his pleasant thoughts. "There was a blip on the radar indicating something above the storm but it disappeared as quickly as it came. Should we be concerned?"
"No. We are on our path to victory and no one can stop us!"
Drago continued to watch the storm grow and grow on his screen with each passing second. His smile returned thinking that with victory so close, he would be able to focus on breaking Valka and force her to rule by his side like they always wanted.
She claims she never wanted to rule with him but he knew better. He and Valka had planned on showing the world their superior might and gain the fear and respect of the normal humans but that man, Stoick, convinced her otherwise and took her from him. He would remind her of her original passion for the plan and for him, even if he had to hurt her in the process.
"Sir!" another man exclaimed. "It seems some woman has gotten into the dragon cavern and is freeing the dragons!"
Anger surged within him at the idea of Valka escaping her prison cell; standing up and heading out of the room, he commanded the men. "Assemble the guards and round up the dragons! If you catch the woman, leave her for me to deal with. All of you! GO!"
Once the room was empty, minus the teen still attached to the machine, he followed them however, taking a different tunnel to go around the commotion to potentially stop Valka if she decided to exit through the side tunnel instead of the main one. As he proceeded down the tunnel, he heard someone running, their steps light indicating someone of petite stature.
Assuming that it was Valka, Drago pressed himself against the wall and waited for her to pass by him. Once he saw her, he reached out and grabbed her by the hair and threw her against the wall, quickly grabbing her by the throat and holding her up.
"You won't escape that easily, Valka." But it wasn't Valka, to his surprise. It was a teenage girl with long blonde hair struggling under his grasp. "Who are you?" he seethed.
The ice walls looked familiar. Too familiar and that familiarity made him shudder as he walked down the icy tunnels quietly. That was hard to do, though, as his metal prosthetic clinked against the ice and echoed throughout the tunnels. "Stupid leg," he mumbled.
"It's not that loud," Astrid assured.
"Seems like it is too me." Hiccup carefully placed his foot down against the ice as he peaked around the corner to see if there was anyone there. Luckily, there wasn't anyone but something felt wrong. "Shouldn't we have met somebody by now?"
"Are you complaining?"
"No, but something has me on edge. It's weird that there are no guards."
"Maybe they think no one would be able to find the place," Astrid suggested as she took the lead in crossing over into the next tunnel, motioning to Hiccup to follow once she was sure the coast was clear.
"Seems unlikely," Hiccup breathed once safe next to Astrid. "Aren't these the same caverns we were in before?"
Astrid looked closer at the ice then shook her head. "No, I don't think so. This ice is more turquoise while the other was more cerulean. We are probably in a completely different location. Why?"
"This place seems so familiar," he squirmed. "And not in a good way."
He felt a hand on his shoulder, making him jump slightly before relaxing to see it belonged to Astrid and not a guard. She smiled at him gently and genuinely as they continued down the tunnel. "Are you sure you're okay? You seem to be a nervous wreck today."
"I'm fine. Just anxious I guess."
Hiccup's fake smile dropped when Astrid was no longer looking at him, worry etched into his features as he rubbed his temples. He wasn't sure if he was alright but he couldn't say anything at the moment. His head was pounding against his skull with the biggest headache he had ever felt yet it wasn't a typical headache. This was different, almost like someone inside was banging against his skull demanding to get out. On top of that, his heart was pounding against his ribcage, his body screaming at him to turn around and run away in self preservation.
He suddenly felt a hand around his mouth and an arm around his chest as he was pulled towards the wall and on the ground, causing his panic to skyrocket. "Hiccup!" Astrid hissed in his ear. He calmed down upon hearing her voice and looked to see a wall of men running past them as they crouched inside a small alcove in the icy walls Astrid maneuvered them into. "Weren't you paying attention?"
Hiccup sheepishly shook his head as she released her hand over his mouth. "Sorry," he whispered. "Guess I got lost in thought."
"You're going to lose more than your thoughts if you don't focus," Astrid reprimanded.
The two continued to hide in the alcove as droves of men ran past them in a hurry. Hiccup strained his ears to hear some sort of siren blaring in the distance and hoped that Rapunzel and Merida didn't trip anything but he heard nothing. The entire time, Astrid kept her arm around his chest, keeping him close to her, something he didn't realize was happening until the threat of getting caught dissipated and their adrenaline slowed down. "Um...Astrid?" he tapped her arm lightly.
She released him quickly, pushing through the entrance of the alcove to make sure the coast was clear, her face never facing his. "Let's go in the direction they came from," she suggested. "It could just be a guard room where we can find a map or it could be where they're keeping Jack."
He nodded in agreement as they carefully made their way down the tunnel, the light getting brighter and brighter indicating some sort of room. "Do you hear humming?" Hiccup asked as they continued forward.
"Yeah."
The sound seemed to come from their left but neither could see any way of getting inside. "Now I really wish we had Toothless. He'd be able to find us a way in. However," Hiccup paused and pondered for a moment as he placed his hand on the wall. He felt vibrations against his hand, moving it around to see in which direction it was stronger. "It seems that whatever is causing the vibrations is in the direction we are going but I don't think it will be easy to find in this maze."
The two continued forward in the tunnel until they came to a large entrance of a large cavern, the humming now obvious coming from the room. "Or not," Astrid shrugged as they looked at the computers and machines littering the cavern. "That seemed too easy. And look! There's Jack!"
Hiccup looked at his friend attached to the machine in horror. Jack looked almost skeletal, his body limp, his skin taut against his bones, his face even paler than before, his eyes sunken in while the veins that pushed up against his thin skin glowed a soft blue and traveled towards the tubes and wires connected to him.
"We need to get him out of there now!" Astrid seethed. "This is inhumane! You were right about rescuing…"
Astrid's voice muffled into silence in Hiccup's mind as he continued to stare at his friend. But Jack wasn't in the machine anymore, it was a small boy with auburn hair and freckles, his green eyes tearing and filled with fear as he screamed but no sound came from him. It was like looking in a mirror, his heart going out to the boy as he cried out for help.
Hiccup screamed as he grasped his head, his knees giving out as he fell to the floor in mental agony. The image of the boy in the bed seared into his mind but it was the feeling that his skull was being pulled apart in every direction that pained him the most. His body convulsed as it tried to release the pain from his head but it did nothing, instead it made his entire body sore and tired. He pulled at his hair as he quivered under the pressure in his skull hoping it would alleviate it but, of course, it only made the pain worse.
He felt hands on his shoulders, looking up he saw the face of a weathered man with scars and hair in long black dreadlocks looking back at him, his dark eyes staring hungrily. A wave of terror washed over him and felt his face visibly pale at the sight of the strange man, his face changed to Astrid's for a quick moment before flashing back to the terrifying man. Hiccup closed his eyes, hoping the man would go away as he tried to wriggle away but the man was still in his mind staring hungrily at him while the grip on his shoulders kept him in place.
Hoping to see Astrid, he forced his eyes open but that man was still there, his eyes boring holes into him as he stared, his mouth mutating into a wicked smile that made his stomach twist and turn in disgust. The man shook him hard, his face glitching into Astrid's once again, swearing he heard her voice too, but his mind was quickly filled by the sounds of blood curdling screams. He wasn't sure if it was in his mind or if he was the one screaming but either way he begged to be let go and for the man to not harm him as he struggled harder to get away from him.
The hands keeping him in place released him and he backed up against the icy wall as he continued to stare fearfully at the man in front of him. The man laughed at him, a sound that was like nails on a chalkboard to his ears, the feeling of dread completely overtaking his senses and petrifying him. For a brief moment, the figure changed to Astrid again, her eyes filled with a painful sorrow as she looked at him. That brief moment of relief was yanked from him as the man returned, his body instinctively reacting by curling in on itself as he clenched his eyes shut tightly once again to hide from the mysterious man.
Shutting his eyes didn't help as his mind pounded with a new wave of pain as each new image that flashed across his closed lids: That horrible man laughing in his face, flames licking his face, a bright light hovering over his head, a small dragon looking down at him, a beam falling on him, a figure reaching for him, a forest spinning around him, a little blonde girl with blue eyes.
That last image forced Hiccup's eyes open in surprise, revealing that he was still in the ice cavern where Jack was still hooked up to the machine. He tried to steady his breathing but he couldn't seem to get a hold of it as his breathing became increasingly erratic. Hiccup watched as Astrid climbed up the machine to pull on a lever and then climbed higher to pull another but the first one popped back into its original position.
She needed help as she couldn't pull both at the same time but Hiccup couldn't seem to command his body to move. He closed his eyes again, the images flashing again across his dark lids, but he had braced himself for their painful bombardment so their pain was as potent. This allowed him to focus on his breathing and his determination to move despite the paralyzing fear that accompanied the images. He was going to beat this, whatever this was. He was determined to no longer be the hostage of these images.
Little clouds puffed in front of her as she exhaled, her body shivering to fight the cold now seeping through her clothes. Merida kept moving her fingers around her bow and arrow to keep them warm and ready for firing if she needed to protect herself.
"These tunnels are beautiful!" Rapunzel whispered as she rubbed her upper arms quickly to keep herself warm.
"Ye can sightsee once we've gotten Jack."
"I know, sorry. I just can't help seeing the beauty in nature."
Merida rolled her eyes but didn't say anything else. Despite her calm and collected demeanor, she was internally frantic. Now that she was back in the ice tunnels, though slightly different, her mind kept going back to that man that harmed her memory and fear coursed through her. Not fear: anger. Anger and hope that she would run into that lunatic so she could put an arrow through his eye.
A sound pulled her out of her thoughts and she straightened her back as she looked around at attention. She put her hand out to stop Rapunzel from walking and she strained her ears to listen carefully. "Do ye hear that?"
"I don't hear- wait! I do hear something!"
"What is it?" Merida asked as she took a step forward. "Could it be where they're holding Jack?"
Rapunzel gasped as her hands flew to her mouth and worry shadowed her face. "You don't think we're hearing his screams from him being tortured to create the storm do you?"
"I don't know," Merida shook her head as anger flowed through her veins at the thought of them physically hurting Jack. "But if so, we're not going to let them continue any further. Come on!"
The two quietly but quickly ran in the direction of the sound, hope swelling in the chests of both girls as the sound got louder and louder. The sound got loud enough to hear clearly and the two stopped realizing that it wasn't screams. At least not human screams.
"That sounds familiar," Rapunzel noted.
"Aye, it does, but why?" Merida ran forward a bit, telling Rapunzel to hang back, and rounded a corner. She gasped in surprise as she entered an extremely large cavern. "Rapunzel, get in here!" The blonde was quickly by her side and she gasped as well. "I think I know why the sound was familiar."
The two girls stood in front of thousands upon thousands of dragons lining the cavern; they occupied every ledge, in every nook and cranny, some even hung upside down from the stalactites. The sound they had heard was the low cries from the dragons as they howled in pain and fear of being chained to the walls.
"The poor creatures," Rapunzel cried. "I hope Hiccup doesn't see this. It will break his heart."
"I think he already saw it," Merida placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder to provide some comfort. "Astrid said that Hiccup showed her and Snotlout how to gain a dragon's trust in order to free them."
"No wonder Hiccup's been tense. This would completely throw me off as well."
Merida continued to observe the conglomeration before her, a sinking feeling befell her as the cries from the fire breathing reptiles flooded her ears. "With these many dragons chained, what if they're amassing an army?"
"They wouldn't use these beautiful creatures as weapons would they?"
Merida cocked an eyebrow at the naïve girl. "They're evil, of course they would."
"You're right," she sighed, tears welling in her eyes. "But we can't let them. We have to free them!"
"And how would ye propose to do that? They're still dangerous wild animals that would kill us if we got too close."
"What did Astrid say they did to gain their trust?"
"She said something about them holding her hand out to them or something. I don't know."
"You think it's that easy?" Rapunzel asked.
"Seriously doubt it. Hey! What are ye doin'?"
Rapunzel approached a dragon that looked like a green pile of rocks with her hand out. "It's okay, dragon. I'm not going to hurt you." The dragon sneered at her, it's underbite of teeth bearing at her but she didn't stop approaching it.
"Rapunzel! Stop!"
"It's okay," she repeated. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm friends with the boy that's friends with the Night Fury." The dragon perked up at the black dragon's name drop. "Night Fury, yes. I know him. He may have been in here recently but he can't come right now. Please let me help you." The dragon allowed her to get closer, eyeing her hand as she did, and relaxed before placing its snout in her palm. "Merida, it worked! Look!"
The red head couldn't believe her eyes. It really was that simple. With a deep breath, she put her bow and arrow away and approached another dragon that was light brown but the head was skinny as well as the entire body. It almost looked like a worm until it opened its wings to reveal a huge wingspan that completely blocked Merida's view of the cavern.
"It's alright, mate," she whispered. "I'm a friend like her. I'm here to help ya." The dragon snapped at her to warn her away and she recoiled for a moment before trying again. "We're here to free ya. Ya don't want to be cooped up in here anymore right?"
She continued to smile at the dragon as she approached, stopping a few feet in front of the giant animal. Keeping her hand out, she bowed her head to show respect to it, not knowing if it would work or not. Her mother always said that large animals may or may not attack you if you bow in respect since it depends on the animal. Secretly she wished Hiccup was here to help but he wasn't and she had to figure this out on her own.
The dragon accepted her show of respect as she felt his scaly snout in her hand. Smiling and giggling like a schoolgirl, she glided her hand up and down his long snout and under his chin. "I'm sure ye have a name but I'm gonna call ya Nathair until we can get Hiccup to tell us. Is that okay?" The dragon purred against her body in approval of the name and the scratches that she was giving him.
"Seems like we both made a friend," Rapunzel smiled at her. "I named him Lumpy. If he is actually a he. We'll ask Hiccup later."
As Merida undid the chain, she looked around the cavern again and an idea popped into her head. "Punz, I don't think we're going to find Jack first but we can make it easier on Hiccup and Astrid."
"What do you mean?"
"Let's free as many dragons as possible. A prison break! It will force all the guards to come here to try and control it-"
"Leaving Jack free from guards!" Rapunzel finished excitedly. "Hiccup and Astrid can waltz right in, grab him, and go!"
"Aye! Here," Merida tossed her a small knife for her to pick the lock. "We'll each undo as many dragons as possible before we get caught by the guards. Once discovered, run back to the generator room and don't worry about me."
"Same for you," Rapunzel saluted. "See you on the other side."
Merida went to work freeing the dragons, which went slower than she imagined since she had to gain each dragon's trust. Luckily, it didn't last long as the dragons caught on to what was happening and were willing to allow her close to them without having to hold her hand out. When she undid a sleek, silver dragon, she watched as it began to slice through the other dragon's chains to help with the breakout.
She wasn't sure how long she was freeing them before she heard a shot ring throughout the cavern. Looking at the direction of the sound she saw a guard pointing a gun at the dragons flying freely and firing again, luckily missing the dragons. Swiftly, she took out her bow and arrow and fired at the man's gun knocking it out of his hands, loading another arrow as the man processed what just happened.
"Ye reach for it and I'll put an arrow through ye hand!" she warned.
The man stood frozen for a moment as he contemplated his options, finally running out of the cavern as he hollered into his communicator. "Dragon break! Dragon break! Girl freeing dragons! Dragon break!"
"Seems we're about to have company!" Merida yelled up at Rapunzel. The blonde who was swinging high overhead freeing several small dragons from their cages saluted her to communicate that she had heard her.
Merida was able to free two more dragons before she heard the sound of several people running down the tunnel towards them. She motioned for the dragons to quickly escape as she placed herself just outside of the cavern entrance, waiting for the men to pass her to try and catch the dragons so that she could sneak behind them and run back down the tunnel.
She got some good distance between her and the dragon cavern before she ran into a large man with a large black beard. Stopping in her tracks and hiding behind a stalagmite, she hoped the man didn't see her, quickly realizing he didn't need to see her to know she was there.
"Come out little girl. I can smell you."
Realization struck that this was Mord'u she had finally come face to face with. She clutched on her bow and arrow desperately as she slowed her breathing to prepare for the confrontation. Walking out with her shoulders back and head up confidently, she pulled back on her bow and aimed it at the man. "Get back Mord'u! I will nae let you get away this time."
The man chuckled as he glared down at the teen. "You think I'm afraid of a stick being pointed in my face?"
"I will fire if ye don't surrender now!"
Mord'u took a step forward and Merida released the tension on the bow allowing her arrow to go flying but it just ricocheted off of his chest without leaving a mark. "I may look human but my skin is as tough as my bear hide. A pointy stick isn't going to do anything, little girl!"
He ran at her, changing into a bear mid stride and tackled Merida to the ground. She screamed as he roared in her face, her body freezing in terror at the giant bear towering over her. In horror, she watched him rear up and raise a paw over his head ready to crush her with it but at the last second, self preservation overpowered her fear and she kicked at one of his ankles forcing him to topple sideways, missing her by a hair.
She rolled away and grabbed her bow again, shooting arrow after arrow at him but they didn't make a difference. Once out of arrows, Mord'u charged at her again only to get smacked in the face with her bow, splintering the weapon. With a sinister growl, Mord'u slowly turned and stalked towards her as if savoring every moment of fear emanating from her while she backed herself against the wall.
Mord'u transformed back into a man as he lunged at her, grabbing her wrists and pinning her arms above her head high enough for her feet to dangle a few inches from the ground. She thrashed against the grip, her feet kicking his chest in an attempt to push him away.
"Stupid girl. Did you really think you could take me when North couldn't?"
Merida stopped struggling for a moment as she looked at the man in horror. "North? What did ye do to him?"
He chuckled as he tightened his grip around her wrist forcing a cry of pain from her. "I killed him. His body is turning the snow red as we speak."
"No!"
He smiled at Merida, taking pleasure in her distress over the news. "Yes. And once I'm done with you, I'll be going after that woman bear. Can't have two running around."
"You leave my Mum alone!"
"You're mother?" Mord'u asked in astonishment. His smile returned as he raised Merida up higher so that she was eye level with him. "Perhaps I'll let you live long enough for you to witness me kill her. It'll be more fun."
Merida's heart raced at the idea of being dragged around by this man only to watch her Mum fight for her life. She couldn't let him get away with it. She wouldn't let him. Her fear quickly turned into rage, giving her a rush of adrenaline and enough strength to kick the man in the crotch.
Mord'u cried out in pain as he released her and she gave him one strong punch to the nose for extra measure before she ran back towards the dragon cavern. The kick to the balls wasn't strong enough to keep him down for as long as she hoped, already feeling his heavy footsteps vibrating the ice as he came after her.
Finally reaching the cavern entrance, she saw the guards from earlier still trying to wrangle the dragons into submission but she was looking for something else. To her right she saw it, the gun she had knocked out of the guard's hand. Praying it still worked, she dived for it and pointed it at the entrance waiting for the man to appear.
Once he did, he was in his bear form once again but Merida pointed it directly between his eyes nonetheless. "Go to hell!" She fired and a needle with a fuzzy end penetrated the tough skin on his face. "It's a tranq gun," she whispered to herself. She fired several more shots at him, backing away as he still advanced until he dropped to the floor unconscious.
"Hey!" a voice sounded behind her.
She turned to see a guard running at her and she fired at him, hitting him square in the chest. Within seconds, he collapsed to the floor, his gun sliding towards her. She picked it up and looked inside the magazine and upon not seeing any tranqs in there, she took the remaining two from the first one and loaded it into the new one not sure if she could rely on it since she damaged it with her arrow.
Flipping the guy over, she found more tranqs in a bag on his belt and loaded the rest of the magazine before firing a shot at each of the guards in the cavern. She took their supply of tranquilizers and restocked her supply before continuing to shoot at the guards still in the cavern and repeating the process. Once all were down, she looked up and saw several dragons still inside trying to free others.
"Oi! Silver dragon!" she called to the sleek one slicing through the chains. "Free as many more as ye can but once these guys wake up, get out of here!"
The large dragon she freed first landed in front of her and gave her a low growl. "Nathair, I'm going to need yer help." She ran back into the tunnel to grab the string from her shattered bow and came back to tie Mord'u's hands and legs behind his back. "Can you carry him out of here? We should be leaving here in a minute so you can follow us back to where to drop him off."
Nathair nodded as he picked the large man up with his large claws and flew away. Merida ran back into the tunnel, now armed with a tranq gun, and made her way towards the generator room shooting all in her path.
The turquoise ice rose up several thousand feet creating a giant underground cavern big enough to house the entire city of Berk; mountains, forests, lakes, and everything else in between. The structure didn't look natural, like someone had created a huge block of ice and then decided to carve it out. It scared her thinking there was something out there able to create this beautifully impressive structure but now wasn't the time to ogle.
Astrid's blood ran cold when she saw Jack shackled to the vertical bed, seeing several tubes and wires attached to him, and his entire body looking like a skeleton with a thin layer of skin stretched across the bones. The image made her sick and anger bubbled up inside of her. She may not have been as close to the teen as the others but even she knew this was completely sick.
"We need to get him out of there now! This is inhumane! You were right about rescuing Jack now instead of waiting for North. He looks like death!" She began to walk towards the machine but the lack of a metal clink on the ice stopped her in her tracks and looked back.
She furrowed her brow in confusion as Hiccup just stood there. As she walked back towards him, she noticed the horrified look in his eyes and the tremble of his entire body. "Hiccup? What's wrong?" She stood in front of him and waved her hand in front of his face but he didn't blink, instead a painful cry escaped him as he held his head and collapsed on the floor.
Astrid stood frozen in shock as Hiccup continued to rock on his knees, pulling at his hair, muffled sobs reaching her ears. She'd only seen him like this one other time and it terrified her. She knelt down in front of him and grabbed his shoulders to force him to look at her as she called out to him. "Hiccup! Hiccup!"
She wished she had left him alone the moment he made eye contact with her. Although he was looking at her, his eyes were distant and drowning in terror, like he was seeing something that scared him to death. The trembling of his body intensified as well as he continued to stare through her. "Hiccup! It's me, Astrid! Wake up!"
For a brief moment, she thought she saw recognition only for the terror to return and Hiccup began to fight against her grip as he turned away and closed his eyes. "No! Don't hurt me! I won't do it!" he screamed.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Hiccup," Astrid choked back tears, her throat going dry as she spoke. She had seen him react to a nightmare while asleep; that she could handle, but now his eyes were wide open and he was stuck in a living nightmare. It was more terrifying than anything she had witnessed before.
"Let me go! Let me go!" he cried as he tried pulling away again.
This time Astrid let him go, watching him scramble backwards away from her like she was the one about to hurt him. He curled in on himself, his body shaking violently as he rocked and mumbled to himself. She wanted to help him through it but she knew his cries probably alerted the occupants of their presence and she needed to free Jack.
"I'll be back Hiccup but I need to free Jack first," Astrid spoke softly before she stood up and jogged over to the machine.
Looking around the entire machine, she found the switches to turn it off but they were in impossible positions. In a way it made sense, to make turning off the machine difficult so it couldn't happen by accident, but she cursed the design as she began to scale the machine.
With one foot in the handle of the lid enclosing Jack, she boosted herself up to reach the first lever and pulled it down. Astrid heard a groan from Jack which sounded like 'what's happening' but he was too far gone to make any real sense.
"Don't worry. I'm getting you out and then we'll head home," Astrid grunted as she placed her other foot on a pipe and boosted herself up to the next lever. She pulled it down but heard a loud pop below her and saw that the first lever was back up. "Son of a rat eating, munge bucket!" she cursed.
Climbing down, she used her foot to press down on it again but the one above her popped back up once the bottom one was down. She quickly realized that she needed to pull both down at the same time to turn off the machine but she wasn't tall enough to reach both. She climbed up to the top one again and thought about pulling down as she jumped down on the second one hoping the split second difference wouldn't be a problem.
"I've got this one!"
She looked down to see Hiccup grabbing the lower lever, sweat drenching his face and matting his bangs to his head. His body still trembled terribly and his jaw was clenched tight as he held onto the lever. Astrid nodded before she began to count. "On the count of three: one, two, three!"
Simultaneously they pulled down and the whirring of the machine came to a stop, the chill they didn't realize was in the air disappeared, and the staff stopped glowing. Astrid formed a hammer and smashed the glass encasing it and grabbed the hooked branch before jumping down. Hiccup had slid open the lid covering Jack and began to undo the wires and tubing from him.
"He looks bad," he commented as his shaking hands struggled with the restraints.
"You were right to bring Rapunzel," Astrid agreed as she undid his feet. "Are you alright though?"
"I'll be fine," Hiccup struggled to say as he inhaled a hiss. "Let's get Jack out of here."
The two of them pulled Jack forward and caught him, each putting an arm around their shoulders to drag him out. She tried to keep most of the teen's weight on her side, giving Hiccup Jack's staff to lean on as he was barely able to keep himself upright let alone another human being.
However, she was impressed by his endurance as he was able to keep up with her despite the heavy and erratic breaths he was taking. "You're remembering something," she commented.
"I think so," Hiccup breathed. "It doesn't make sense."
"What are you seeing?" She hoped that by distracting him mentally would help keep him physically active so that they could reach the dragons. They were only a quarter of the way back and even she was starting to get tired.
"I see a man. A burning building. An operating table?" Hiccup gasped in pain again, stumbling a bit before catching himself. "Why is this happening now?"
Before Astrid could respond, Jack's body fell to the floor dragging her down with him. When she recovered, she saw that a man with red hair was on top of Hiccup, pinning him down as he struggled. "Get off me!" he cried but the man kept him pinned. It seemed he took pleasure from pain as he laughed maniacally when Hiccup cried out in pain when the man tightened his grip around his wrists.
Anger welled up inside her. No one was going to hurt him anymore today, not on her watch. Forming a double sided axe, she charged at the man as she screamed, "Get off of him!" But before she could strike, the man looked up at her and searing pain suddenly engulfed her body. It felt as if she was being burned alive as well as being electrocuted all at the same time. With a scream, she dropped her axe and fell to the floor in anguish, nothing but the pain on her mind.
She flung a few more cages open to free the smaller dragons before she swung herself to a small tunnel opening on the far side of the cave. She figured it would take longer for her to get back to the generator room but if it meant not getting caught, she wouldn't mind the detour.
The tunnel was smaller than she expected and she had to crawl on her stomach for a while before it was large enough for her to stand up straight. Rapunzel dusted off her jacket as she began to jog down the tunnel looking for something familiar to indicate she was going in the right direction but as she kept going and didn't see anything she recognized, she began to worry that she would get lost forever and wouldn't make it back in time.
Taking another turn, she came into a large room with tables scattered everywhere and a large chair on the highest ledge, almost like a throne, with two large fire pits on either side. "Someone has an ego," she mumbled as she walked over to a table to look at the papers littering it.
Picking up the papers, she quickly looked over them trying to make heads or tails of it but they didn't really make sense to her. Now she wished she paid more attention to her topographic class as she couldn't really make out what the different maps were showing her. Nothing screamed 'I'm important, take me!' with places circled in a big red marker or had skulls drawn on them as she continued to look at the maps.
Giving up on the maps, she looked around to see if there was anything useful she could take back to North to finish combating the Phantom Reapers. Since she was here, she might as well take advantage of her circumstances. She noticed a small door off to the side and approached it cautiously, pulling aside the thick curtain blocking her view.
She gasped at the sight in front of her. There were several shelves lining the walls jam packed with artifacts from everywhere: weapons, mirrors, jewelry, books, and so much more. Being the bookworm she is, she gravitated towards the piles of books and began to sift through them until one grabbed her attention: it was a worn brown book with a picture of a dragon in a circle.
Picking it up gingerly, she opened the cover to see drawings and notations of several types of dragons. She recognized the ones she and Merida just befriended but she couldn't understand the language it was written in. "This could be useful to Hiccup," she said to herself as she unzipped her jacket and placed the book inside before zipping it back up.
She continued to look through the artifacts and found a hand mirror with an intricate design bordering the glass. Outside, she heard someone enter the room and she pressed herself against one of the shelves to make herself as small as possible. Once she heard the room was empty again, she sighed in relief. "I could really use a map of the tunnels to get out of here," she whispered.
In response, the mirror in her hand began to glow brightly and the glass revealed a map with directions to the generator room from her current location. "This is amazing! How is this possible?"
"Who's there?"
Rapunzel jumped at the voice, dropping the mirror in the process, the glass shattering across the floor. She stood there frozen in shock and fear, her hands covering her mouth, as she stared at the pieces around her feet. She noticed one of the pieces had a name on it and she quickly picked it up and put it in her pocket before the curtain was pushed aside to reveal a large guard.
"Who the- What are you doing-" the man stammered confused. His curiosity changed to fearful anger when he saw the broken shards on the floor. "What did you do!? He's not going to be happy about this."
He reached for her but Rapunzel reacted quicker. Within a second, her hair was wrapped around his torso and he was lifted off the ground so he couldn't escape, a lock covering his mouth so he didn't call for help. "Who's he? What is all of this?" she gestured to the artifacts as she interrogated him.
She removed her hair so the man could answer. "They're his tools and treasures he collected over the years to help with his conquest of the world. You just destroyed his most powerful object."
"What exactly did he use it for?"
"He told it what he wanted to see and it showed him."
Rapunzel nodded as it made sense now why it showed her a map out of here when she absentmindedly asked for one. "He used it to spy on North, didn't he?" she questioned, shivering at the idea of Pitch or Alvin using it to watch them at any time. She was glad she had accidentally broken it.
"I don't know," the man answered. "I know he's used to spy on government politicians though. It's how he knew how they'd react."
She looked around the room at all the artifacts trying to find out how she could cripple them even more. "What else did he use the most?"
"I don't know. We're not allowed in here. I've only ever seen him use the mirror."
Rapunzel nodded as she picked up a club nearby and hit the man on the top of the head with it to knock him out. She looked at the room and contemplated her options; she could sift through quickly to see what she deemed important and take what she could carry or she could just destroy everything so that Pitch or Alvin couldn't use them again and everyone would be on the same playing field.
She ran out of the room and up towards one of the fire pits by the throne at the end of the room, grabbed the rods inside and brought it over to the small room, intending on burning everything inside. Rapunzel stopped just before the red hot end touched a book, feeling conflicted about destroying such unique items. She stood there, for who knows how long, battling the pros and cons of what she was about to do when she heard a noise at her feet.
Looking down, she saw one of those small dragons she had freed standing there looking at her curiously. "Hello there," she smiled. "What are you doing here? You should be escaping." Behind the dragon, she noticed several more entering the room and gathering in front of the small room, each looking at her expectantly.
An idea popped into her head and she knelt down by the dragon as she spoke. "Do you think you and your friends could take these items out of here and hide them so that the ones that imprisoned you can't use them to hurt dragons or anyone else ever again?"
The dragon licked his eye before cawing at his buddies and then flying into the room, grabbing what it could carry then flew out. The others followed suit, with more dragons coming to help, at one point a moving grey cloud entered the room and removed all metal within seconds. Rapunzel couldn't help but smile as she watched the dragons empty out the room, completely elated and impatient to tell Hiccup what amazing creatures dragons are. Well, he already knows that.
There were only a few large items left in the room when the dragons were done dispossessing the Phantom Reapers of their nefarious tools. The dragons seemed to read her mind, blasting the remaining pieces until they burned just enough to make them useless, then flying out of the room to freedom. Rapunzel followed their lead but went in the direction the magic mirror told her to go.
Several turns and tunnels later found her pinned by the throat against the wall, her head pounding from her hair being pulled and her head banging against the wall. It took her a moment to register the menacing looking man in front of her. His eyes burned with anger and hatred as he bore into her soul while his grip remained ironclad as he continued to keep her in place. She was pretty sure she would have a nasty bruise around her neck once she was able to free herself from him.
"Who are you?" he seethed.
She tried to wriggle out of his grasp but each attempt was met with a tighter grip until she gave up, fearing she would pass out or he would break her neck if she kept trying to escape. Rapunzel decided that waiting for the right opportunity would be her best bet but in the meantime she wouldn't tell this man anything.
"Tell me your name," he commanded.
A desire to tell him her name rose up out of nowhere along with a mounting pressure in her mind, she couldn't explain it but she tried fighting it. To her disappointment, she failed as her name came tumbling out of her mouth. "Rapunzel."
Recognition flashed in the man's eyes as he nodded his head and smiled knowingly. "Gothel's daughter."
"She's not my mother," Rapunzel corrected. "She took me from my mother."
"I couldn't care less," the man huffed. "What are you doing here? Tell me!"
The pressure returned to her mind along with the desire to tell him and she couldn't fight it. "I came to free Jack," she panted. "I came to stop the blizzard."
The man chuckled in her face at her confession. "Naïve girl. One little girl can't thwart my plans. Now that I've got you, your teenage friend will never see the light of day again. He will work for me until I decide he is no longer useful and kill him."
Rapunzel looked at the man fearfully as tears began to spring to her eyes. She was certain that the others had found Jack and freed him but the thought of her newly found cousin being killed by this man angered her. "Don't you dare think about it!"
"Or what?" he sneered. "I'll be locking you away until Gothel returns so she can take you back. Perhaps when the day comes for me to kill the boy, I'll let you say goodbye before you watch his death."
The thought of being imprisoned with Gothel once again only to be let out to watch her family killed petrified her so much that she didn't realize the man was dragging her away by the back of her neck until she recognized one of the tunnels she needed to go down. Rapunzel began to think of a way to escape, looking for an opportunity, feeling around her jacket for anything.
Something sharp hit her hand and she remembered the shard she had placed in her pocket from the magic mirror. Getting a good grasp on it, she quickly raised her hand and sliced the edge across his arm forcing him to release her as he cried out in pain.
Running down the tunnel towards the generator room, she could hear him following her close behind, his cursing and threats urging her to go faster. She got an idea to slow him down when she saw a few stalactites above her. Stopping, she turned around and wrapped her hair around several of them, pulling with all her might until they collapsed in front of her and blocking his path. With a sigh of relief, she continued running towards the generator room.
Her travel was stopped suddenly when an axe appeared at her throat and she held her hands up in surrender at the sharp metal. "Rapunzel! It's just you."
"Astrid!" she cried in relief as she hugged the girl. "Are you alright? You seem to be...not you."
"I'm fine," she nodded. "Jack needs your attention."
When she looked past Astrid, she saw Jack's body and nausea overtook her seeing the state he was in. She wanted to cry in a corner but she approached him and wrapped her hair around his body, praying it would help him recover quickly.
From the pain in his head, to the soreness in his muscles from constantly contracting, to the now new pain his back felt as he hit the floor, it took Hiccup several seconds to realize he was being straddled by a strange man. Not quite a man, a late teen. He had three blue streaks across his right eye and his red hair was tied back in a ponytail.
The older teen had grabbed his wrists to pull his arms taut on either side of him, making it extremely hard for him to fight back but Hiccup tried anyway. "Get off of me!" he commanded as he tried shifting his body from side to side hoping to loosen the teen's grip but it only seemed to tighten with each struggle. He cried out as he shut his eyes to stop the tears from forming or falling.
"Get off of him!" he heard Astrid order before she charged at them. He could see her axe raised above her head as she ran at them, a wave of relief washing over him that he wouldn't be in this unflattering predicament much longer, but that hope was dashed when the teen looked at her and she collapsed to the ground with curdling screams escaping her lips.
Her screams shocked him to the core, never thinking he'd hear her scream like that and he wished them to stop so he would never have to hear them again. "What are you doing to her?" he asked as he thrashed against the teen again.
"Just some basic inflammation of the nerve endings," he bragged. "Makes it fun seeing someone thrash about against a source of pain that isn't there. What should I do to you?"
Hiccup struggled again, kicking his feet and twisting his hips to gain more room for leverage but it didn't help. It only annoyed the teen more as he lifted his leg high enough for him to shove one of Hiccup's arms to his side, effectively trapping that arm against the teen's thigh and Hiccup's own body. This left the teen's left arm free to wrap his large hand around Hiccup's neck.
"For a little guy, you put up quite a fight," he said as his grip got tighter around the throat. "I love breaking high spirits. You do remind me of someone I almost broke a few...years...ago…"
The teen's voice trailed off as his expression slowly changed into confused suspicion. Hiccup turned his face away as far as he could when the teen brought his face closer to him but he was forced to look at him when the teen released his wrist and used both hands to trap Hiccup's face into a forward position.
"You look familiar," the teen breathed in his face. "Have we met?"
Hiccup shook his head to the best of his ability but the hands on the side of his head kept a good grip on him. He didn't think it was possible to be more terrified than he already was but this teen proved Hiccup wrong. As he looked at his face, an image flashed in his mind of the teen...but younger...and with a terrifying grin on his face. He shook his head again to clear the image from his mind but reality wasn't any better.
"I swear I've seen you somewhere…"
Uncomfortable goosebumps traveled across his body as the teen's thumb ran over his chin and a smile slowly crept across the teen's face. Hiccup didn't like the excitement that grew in his eyes as he continued to pet his chin, taking great interest in the scar.
"This is too good!" he laughed darkly. "All this time I thought you were dead!"
Hiccup looked at him confused for a moment before connecting the dots. This teen knew him before he had lost his memory but it was fairly clear he wasn't a friend. That terrified him more than anything. Could this person be the one that made him forget everything? Was this the guy that hurt him so badly that he lost his memory? Neither answer gave Hiccup any comfort and the thoughts only made the pain in his head hurt even more, closing his eyes against the pain.
"Look at me!"
The teen forced Hiccup to look at him, the image of the younger face coming back to the forefront of his mind but now it was different. Now, the man he was seeing earlier with the dreadlocks was with him, both smiling down at him menacingly. "Why? Why are you with him? Who is he?"
Confusion flashed across the teen's face again before he broke out into laughter again. "Oh, oh, OH! This is too good! You don't remember, do you? No matter. I will enjoy breaking you all over again. You were difficult before and now that you're older, oooh, it's going to be fun!"
Fear engulfed Hiccup again, not liking what this man was saying one bit. "Let me go! Get off of me!"
"Now why would I do that? You're my new toy and we're going to be spending so much time together."
Hiccup looked around for a way to free himself from this maniac's hold of him but all he could see was Astrid's axe a foot or so away. His friends, one still unconscious and the other still writhing in pain, couldn't help him so he had to rely on himself. Desperately, he reached for the axe but he was nowhere close to touching it.
"How cute. You're trying to reach it but it's not going to happen. You're mine now and you're not going to get away this time. How about a demonstration of what's in store for you?"
"No, please! Let me go!"
"Maybe you'll struggle more. I love it when helpless animals struggle desperately."
The teen removed his hands from Hiccup's face, taking a finger and placing it just under his chin. Slowly, he slid his finger down Hiccup's neck and his chest, a scream emanating from his throat as the finger continued south. This pain was almost as bad as the pain still in his head and in some ways it was worse. It felt like a hot knife was cutting him open down the middle but there was no cut visible and no knife to move away from.
The teen stopped and placed his finger under Hiccup's chin again to start over when another scream came from Astrid. He rolled his eyes as he sighed in annoyance. "She's not out yet? Damn, she's as stubborn as you."
"Stop hurting her!" he commanded, anger now beginning to build deep within his chest.
"She'll eventually go uncon-" he stopped for a moment, then began looking back and forth between Hiccup and Astrid, an idea popping into his mind. "You care for her don't you?"
Hiccup's eyes went wide at the question, not liking why he was asking. Sure, he cared. Why wouldn't he? She's his friend. He cares for every one of his friends: Toothless, Jack, Merida, Rapunzel, Astrid, heck, even Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins at this point.
"How about she stays with us?" he continued as he petted the top of Hiccup's head. "Wouldn't want my little pet to get lonely now would I? She may be the key to breaking you."
The teen ran a finger down the side of Hiccup's face, enjoying seeing the boy flinch and recoil under his touch. "Leave her alone," Hiccup demanded, his voice breaking as he spoke. "Do whatever you want to me but leave her and Jack out of this. You seem to only want me."
A laugh came from the teen again as he continued to trace Hiccup's features with his finger. "Now I know she'll help me break you. Should I knock her out now or should I increase the pain just enough to make her cry more but not enough for her to pass out?"
Fear and anger bubbled even more in his chest until it overtook Hiccup as the teen turned to look at Astrid. He now wished he could reach the axe so that he could take down this crazy man and protect his friends. She had done some much in the last few weeks to protect him and now he felt useless not being able to protect her. To his surprise though, he felt something in his hand and when he turned to look, he saw the axe's handle sitting in his palm.
Without hesitating, he swung the axe at the teen with all his might and knocked him off balance. Hiccup scrambled to get back up on his feet and get a better stance to defend himself as the teen struggled to straighten himself. "What the? How did you? Oh, I don't think so," he stammered before charging at Hiccup.
He didn't hold back as he swung once again at the teen, this time making a more powerful contact with the teen's skull, an obvious crack heard. Hiccup held the axe out in defense, waiting for the teen to get back up but he didn't move. Everything went quiet for a moment, eerily silent, as he stared at the unmoving body.
A hand touched his hands still gripping the axe's handle and he jumped at the contact. "It's okay," Astrid assured him. He looked at her, those blue eyes still watering from the pain she endured, cheeks stained from tears, and her voice hoarse from screaming constantly for the last few minutes. Calmly she smiled at him, softly commanding him. "Release the axe, Hiccup. It's okay."
Reluctantly, he released his grip, his breath he didn't know he was holding also releasing in the process. Shakily, he handed it back over to her. "I'm sorry. I know you don't like others touching your axes but I didn't know what to do. I don't even know how I got it in my hands. I'm so sorry. I hope I didn't damage it."
"Hiccup," she whispered as she hugged him. "You were great. I'm not mad. You saved us."
He sank into her hug, not caring about anything else; not the pounding in his head, the pain still lingering down his chest, not the sore muscles, not the fact that they were smack in the middle of the Reaper's secret lair, not the fact that they were in completely over their heads. None of that mattered at the moment to Hiccup. He was just happy that she was safe, that he was safe, and that Jack was safe for the moment.
Hiccup looked at the teen's still body, the peaceful moment gone as a nauseating thought crossed his mind. "Did I kill him?" Astrid pulled away and went over to the body to check his heartbeat. "I don't think I could handle the idea of taking a life right now."
"He's not dead but you conked him good. You had some good power behind your swing. Perhaps, I'll show you a few moves."
"Self-defense would be-" Hiccup was cut off by Astrid's hand covering his mouth and his body being slammed against the wall by her. It wasn't the worst position to be in but he was getting quite tired of being pushed against solid objects.
"Shh," she whispered. "Someone's coming. You stay here."
He didn't argue with her as the constant fight he's been having in his head along with the physical strain from fighting the teen was now catching up. He slid down the wall and sat as he watched Astrid prepare to swing her axe at the person rounding the corner. To their relief, it was a friend and not a foe.
"Rapunzel!" Astrid sighed. "It's just you."
"Astrid!" Rapunzel cried as she hugged the girl. "Are you alright? You seem to be...not you."
"I'm fine," she nodded. "Jack needs your attention."
Astrid motioned towards Jack's still body, the girl walking over and gingerly wrapping her hair around her cousin. "I'm not sure if this will work," she admitted.
"It won't hurt to try," Hiccup shrugged. He felt Astrid kneel next to him as she placed a hand on his shoulder, watching Rapunzel work on healing Jack.
Rapunzel began to hum, her hair glowing a calming gold color, and immediately, their hopes began to rise. The color came back into Jack's skin which began to loosen over his bones as the muscles were restored back to their original state, his eyes were no longer sunken and dark, and his breathing returned to normal. When his eyes flew open, everyone smiled in relief.
"Jack?" Rapunzel called quietly once she undid her hair from around his body. "How do you feel?"
"I feel great!" he smiled as she hugged his cousin. "You came back for me. Thank you."
"Of course we did," Rapunzel cried into his sweater, still hugging him tightly. "I couldn't lose you right after we found each other. Did you really think we wouldn't come?"
"Well, it seemed pretty hopeless and crazy from where I was."
"Crazy is what Hiccup does best," Astrid nodded as she elbowed him in the side. "You were right to go after him."
"You convinced everyone?" Jack asked.
"Not everyone, but enough."
"Hiccup seems to have found his confidence," Astrid elbowed him again. "He was quite the leader."
"It was just adrenaline," Hiccup blushed. "And it's wearing off. We need to go before we lose our window of escape."
Astrid helped him to his feet and the four began to make their way out of the maze of tunnels. When they got closer, they heard gunshots echoing and they hurried their pace but then the sound was right behind them. Astrid and Jack turned around and prepared to fight but saw Merida round the corner as she fired off a few more shots, the sound of bodies falling to the floor around the corner.
"What are ye waitin' fer?" she asked as she continued running. "There's about five more behind me, let's get out of here!"
No one needed to be told twice as they sprinted the rest of the way. The generators were grating on his already pounding mind but Hiccup ignored it and kept going, relieved to see Toothless and to feel his scales under his skin as he gave his best friend a pained smile.
"I'm fine, Toothless," Hiccup lied when asked about his well-being. He knew that Toothless could tell he wasn't doing well at all but that would be a conversation for another day. "Let's just go home." Hiccup struggled to get into the saddle, Astrid leaping on behind him, and the other two girls jumping onto Stormfly's back.
"Let's get out of here!" Merida urged.
But neither dragon moved. They were both staring at the opening in front of them as if contemplating something. "Bud, what are you doing?" In response, Toothless fired several shots through the crack lighting up several generators, Stormfly following his lead. Explosions began to rock the ice and the sound of it cracking could be heard over the fire. "Alright, you've done your part, now let's go!"
The dragons took off, Jack flying between them, Toothless leading the way through the dark until they were back out in the open sky. The sun shone brightly on their faces, hurting their eyes until they adapted to the sudden light to see the sky clear and blue. They all cheered at the sight, even the dragons firing off excited blasts, a joyful sound Hiccup felt he hadn't heard in such a long time.
"We did it!" Rapunzel exclaimed. "We saved Jack and we saved the world from freezing to death!"
"Aye, that we did," Merida chuckled. "Feels good."
"I'm sorry," Jack apologized somberly.
"No!" Astrid snapped. "You don't need to apologize for anything, Jack. You were forced to create that blizzard. It wasn't your fault."
"But-"
"No buts," Hiccup shook his head. "She's right. You were a tool. You can't blame yourself. I won't hear it."
Everyone smiled when Jack's somber demeanor changed to his softer, more playful expression, his backflip in the air proving he was happy once again. He pointed behind both dragons and their riders as he was flying backwards. "I think we have company."
Looking behind them, there was a flock of dragons tailing them ranging from small to enormous. "It's Lumpy!" Rapunzel stated as she waved at the green dragon.
"Nathair!" Merida waved at the large dragon.
Hiccup watched as the large dragon came up close to Stormfly so that Merida could pet him but something else caught his eye. "Is that Mord'u?"
"Yep," Merida nodded. "I was able to take him down. Nathair here was kind enough to grab him for me. I told him that he could follow us back to the school to drop him off."
"And what about the small dragons carrying items?" Jack asked.
"They helped me," Rapunzel raised her hand. "I found this room filled with magical items, books, maps, and other things. They helped me clear it out so that they couldn't use them against us again."
Hiccup was overcome with excitement seeing all the new types of dragons and to hear what they were able to do together but learning more about them would have to wait. His vision began to blur, his hearing fading in and out as the others continued to talk, while his body began to go limp. He fumbled with a latch on a hidden compartment on the saddle as he called out weakly. "Astrid."
"Yeah, Hiccup?"
He finally was able to undo the latch and pulled out a piece of paper, handing it to her. "You're going to need this."
"What is it?"
"Cheatsheet for Toothless' tail," Hiccup struggled to say as he tried to keep his eyes open. "I'm blac...I can't stay...I'm sorry…" The world around him finally went dark as he felt his body fall to the side.
Yeah! Jack's been rescued! Whoo! How was the climax? I hope it was exciting enough for everyone. It looked amazing in my head so I hope I transitioned it well to digital paper. A few more chapters, probably, to wrap up the first story. Let me know what you think.