Chapter 8: Rockcrusher
Jerrick awoke to a fit of coughing. Water spluttered from his dry and sandy mouth. He rolled onto his side and groaned. His head throbbed and his whole body ached. Cold. He felt cold too. His damp clothes clung tightly to his body. Shivers racked through his body and his teeth chattered. It was so loud it could probably be heard from the village of Berk.
Berk.
Where was he? Jerrick pushed himself up into a sitting position with a lot of effort. His arms were too weak and cold though, and he slumped back on the ground before he could even lift himself off. He curled himself up into a ball and glanced around him. Trees loomed high in front of him. He was probably somewhere in the forest. How did he end up here? Last thing he remembered was running through the forest, trying to avoid the dragon riders. Which way had he turned to end up here? Left or right, or…
The events flashed before his mind like a falling deck of cards. The feeling of cold water slamming against him. Darkness enveloping him from all sides. His lungs burning from the cold water rushing in. The salt in his eyes. Jerrick almost drowned. Or maybe he did drown. Maybe this was Valhalla. He doubted it. It was much too cold to be Valhalla. He clutched his legs against his chest even tighter. It was way too cold to be Helheim too. Jerrick decided that he was somehow alive and kicking. How did he end up here?
A wet, floppy sound came from behind him, like a bunch of wet fish were dropped on the ground at the same time. Immediately, Jerrick felt heat radiate from behind him. He rolled around to face the source of the warmth.
And let out a strangled gasp immediately.
There was a dragon. Right in front of him. A Gronckle. Staring at him. Jerrick tried to back up, but couldn't. He was rooted to the spot. Whether it was the cold or his fear he didn't know. He simply stared back at the Gronckle. A lump formed in his throat, preventing him from swallowing his saliva. Maybe it was his heart that was choking him. Jerrick prepared himself for the worst.
But the Gronckle still hadn't attacked him. In fact, its tongue was hanging out of its mouth and it was wagging its tail, like a puppy greeting his master after not seeing him for a long time. Jerrick suddenly noticed that there was a small pile of lava in front of him that was giving him warmth. He hadn't noticed it before. Did that dragon spit out the lava for him? Jerrick knew that Gronckles were able to spit out lava. Maybe it was friendly after all. One way to find out. Slowly, Jerrick stretched out his frozen limbs and dragged himself closer to the lava. He savoured the warmth on his numb face, and slowly the senses returned to his face. The warmth flowed through his body like delicious, sweetened honey. Heat had never felt so good before. His teeth stopped chattering too. He took a deep breath of the warm air, and sighed when he felt the warmth radiate through his lungs. Jerrick kept an eye on the dragon the whole time, but all it did was watch him curiously the whole time. Well, he hoped it was a curious look. It could be hungry. Maybe it was warming up its food.
A few minutes beside the small mound of lava did wonders to Jerrick. He could feel his fingers and toes for the first time since waking up. Using a hand that wasn't completely frozen, he propped himself up into a sitting position and looked at the dragon. The Gronckle came closer to him, and there was finally enough light for Jerrick to see that it was blue.
Something in his mind clicked, and he put two and two together. Was it the same blue Gronckle from his first day in the village? Why was he following him? He should be thankful the Gronckle hadn't eaten him. A thought struck him all of a sudden. Did the Gronckle save him? There was no way he could have swam out while unconscious. It was possible that the dragon riders found him. But even then, he wouldn't be in the middle of the forest, lying beside a Gronckle. He would probably be imprisoned somewhere.
Jerrick looked into the Gronckle's eyes. He didn't know why he did so. It just felt right. The Gronckle didn't swallow him up. It looked back at him with widened pupils. Were its eyes smiling? When their eyes met, its rock-like tail began to wag and its tongue hung out of its mouth, like a little puppy. He remembered that it did the exact same thing when he first awoke. Perhaps it was waiting for him to do something. Would talking to it be the right thing to do? The dragon riders talked to their dragons. Then again, they have been with their dragons for a few years. They were probably trained to understand commands. Would this Gronckle understand him? You'll never know until you try.
"Hey there," Jerrick said. His voice was raspy, and his throat stung as he spoke. When was the last time he had drank water? He coughed a few times. "How are you?"
Jerrick backed off in fear as the Gronckle leapt in the air a little. The Gronckle looked sheepish, or maybe it was just his imagination. Either way, the Gronckle didn't jump again. It simply continued to wag its tail. That was a good sign, probably.
"Do you understand me?" Jerrick asked. It was such a stupid question. He used to snicker at the shepherds who talked to their sheep for hours on end. Guess who was laughing now.
The Gronckle kept wagging its tail. Maybe it hadn't understood him. Maybe he had given dragons more credit than they were due.
"I don't know if that's a yes or a no," Jerrick tried again. "If you understand me, close your mouth."
The Gronckle did just that. Jerrick stared in awe. It was probably just a coincidence, a fluke chance that the dragon happened to close its mouth just as Jerrick said that.
"Open your mouth," Jerrick tried again. The Gronckle complied. The dragon actually understood him! Jerrick drew a deep breath. Was it still a coincidence, he wondered to himself. Wouldn't hurt to try again.
"Lie down," Jerrick said. The dragon moved its four stumpy legs outwards, and flopped onto the floor, its large belly crushing anything below it. He imagined a poor ant screaming as it was crushed by the dragon. A few rocks must have been crushed too.
"Rockcrusher," Jerrick suddenly blurted out. Where did that come from? The Gronckle stood up and wagged its tail again. It seemed to like that. "Hey there, Rockcrusher," Jerrick said. His knees crackled and popped as he stood up. He walked around the lava towards the Gronckle. Rockcrusher. The dragon backed off and stayed low. Jerrick hesitated.
"I won't hurt you," Jerrick said. "You saved my life. I wouldn't think of hurting you." Rockcrusher stood at its full height, but still kept a distance from Jerrick. Warily, Jerrick took another step forward and held out a hand. Rockcrusher took another step backwards. "It's okay," Jerrick said, removing his hand. "I'm a friend." He knelt down and stayed still, making himself smaller and hopefully appear less threatening to the dragon. It worked with dogs. Did dragons think the same way?
Apparently so. Rockcrusher took a step towards him. Jerrick raised his hands again, stretching his palms outwards the same way a parent would welcome their child. The dragon glanced at his hand, and then looked back into his eyes. Jerrick gave him a smile, but Rockcrusher's eyes still kept flicking between Jerrick's palms and his eyes. Did it think he was still a threat? Jerrick closed his eyes and dipped his head. Maybe now it wouldn't think so. Hopefully Rockcrusher would trust him now.
He inhaled sharply as he felt warm, scaly skin press against his palms. He looked back up and looked straight into Rockcrusher's face. Both his palms were resting on the bottom of its large jaw. Rockcrusher had its tongue hanging out again, and it was wagging its tail.
"Hey boy," Jerrick said. He paused for a moment. "Or are you a girl?" Rockcrusher drooped its tail. That probably meant no. "Boy?" Jerrick tried again. Rockcrusher started wagging his tail again. Jerrick stood up and placed a palm on the side of Rockcrusher's head. Rockcrusher looked at him, wagging his tail. "Thanks for saving me just now," Jerrick said. He owed his life to this dragon. The dragon did a small leap again. Jerrick smiled.
A cold wind blew against his face, and Jerrick suddenly recalled the situation he was in. He looked around at the numerous trees looming tall and large around him. The warmth of the lava had faded out a while ago, but he hadn't noticed it until now. That small mound of lava that Rockcrusher made had managed to warm him up and dry his clothes too. But he was still in the middle of nowhere. Unless…
He turned to look at Rockcrusher. The dragon riders did it anyway, could he do the same? "Hey boy," Jerrick said. Rockcrusher perked up. "Do you know the way back to Berk?" He wagged his tail. "Great," Jerrick said. Now came the tough part. "Could I… ride you back?" Rockcrusher pulled his tongue back into his mouth. His tail stopped wagging, but it didn't droop. "It wouldn't be that bad," Jerrick tried to reassure him. "I'm not that heavy." Rockcrusher looked at him for a while more. Jerrick could hear his own breath. What if he said no and flew away?
Eventually, Rockcrusher turned to face his side to Jerrick and leaned on one side. An invitation to climb on. Jerrick let out a soft sigh of relief and a smile crept onto his face. At that moment, he froze. He was going to ride a dragon. Alone. He took a deep breath. There was nothing to fear. He had done this before. But Scarface has been there in case anything went wrong. Stop thinking, the more he thought about it, the less likely he'll get on. Rockcrusher still stood there, leaning on one side and waiting for Jerrick. He swung one leg over Rockcrusher's large body, and pulled himself up so that his weight was in the middle of Rockcrusher. Rockcrusher stood straight, and Jerrick rebalanced himself for a moment. He glanced around at the solid floor one more time.
"Alright, let's go," he said. Jerrick could feel Rockcrusher's powerful muscles preparing to push him into the air. He took a deep breath.
And muffled a scream as Rockcrusher took to the air. He leaned forward and pressed his chest into Rockcrusher's body. His fingers crawled desperately around Rockcrusher's neck. Breathing became hard. Hyperventilating was not the right option. Calm down. He was hanging on. He was fine. Rockcrusher was carrying him just fine.
Slowly, he pushed himself back into a sitting position and looked around. When he saw the scene below him, his mouth hung open in awe. He had seen this before on the back of another dragon, but he never appreciated it. His mind was too preoccupied.
But now, flying freely on Rockcrusher on his own, everything seemed different. Jerrick would never forget the way the sea sparkled as the moonlight danced off the surface of the water, the way the moonlight bathed the surface of the trees, creating a comfortable patch of green. Even the light in the village had a warm, inviting glow to it. Everything looked so different. The evil aura was gone.
"That way, boy," Jerrick pointed at the guest hut. Rockcrusher obliged and flew in the direction where he pointed. They had flown off the island of Berk, and were now over the sea. The moon was directly in front of them, watching over the whole world through the black dots on its semicircular face.
As they approached the guest hut however, Jerrick could see that something was off. There were a few dragons around the hut, and their riders were on the ground, moving their hands around animatedly like flames dancing in the wind. They probably were in the middle of an intense discussion, and Jerrick wanted no part in that. He directed Rockcrusher towards the Great Hall. Rockcrusher flew low, his stumpy feet brushing against the top of the trees below. Jerrick stayed as low as he could on Rockcrusher. If they happened to look at him, hopefully they would only see a dragon flying, not a rider on the dragon.
Rockcrusher flew behind the Great Hall and landed. They were out of sight from the main village, at least. How Jerrick could get back to his guest hut was another thing.
"Go and hide in the forest, Rockcrusher," Jerrick said. Rockcrusher gave him a doubtful look. "If they see you with me, they might think something is up," Jerrick explained. Rockcrusher still looked at him with the same look. "Go," Jerrick said, a tone of urgency creeping into his voice. Rockcrusher finally obeyed, taking off and disappearing into the forest. Jerrick took a deep breath and walked into the open. They wouldn't see him from the guest hut yet, but in a few moments they would. What would he tell them? He went to get food again? They may have been in the Great Hall during the time when he was unconscious. How long was he unconscious? The moon was a quarter of the way up in the night sky. When the chase began, the moon had just risen over the horizon, so that meant he was out for nearly a quarter of the night. He needed to find an explanation that fit that timeframe.
He didn't have much time to think, however, because a few seconds later, the ice demon that happened to have the body of a blonde girl came hurtling towards him on her Nadder. Stay calm, and look as normal as possible, Jerrick told himself. The Nadder landed in front of him. Jerrick jerked back. The ice demon dismounted and glared at him with all the evil in the world. She held an axe in her hand and stood in a combat pose, feet evenly spread.
"Where were you?" She demanded.
"I-I was walking a-around the village," Jerrick stuttered. He didn't need to pretend to stutter. She was terrifying.
"Why were you out at this time?" She demanded again.
"I had a-a lot on my mind," Jerrick lied.
"Like what?" There was the sound of fire crackling from the torch behind her. It seemed to accurately reflect her words, a crackling fire waiting to burn whatever stood in its way.
Jerrick was prepared to come up with something, when a black Night Fury landing behind the ice demon interrupted him. Hiccup quickly dismounted off Toothless and pushed her back.
"Astrid, lay it off," he said sternly.
"Why should I Hiccup?" Astrid said, whirling around to face him.
"I told you just now," Hiccup said back.
"Even after we found this?" Astrid pulled out a medallion from her pocket. Jerrick recognised it immediately. It was the Nadder medallion that he had purchased at the Northern Markets. He knew there was no point denying it. They knew it was his somehow.
"That's mine," Jerrick interrupted. Astrid whipped her head around to face him so quickly that her head could have easily flown off her neck. The other riders landed behind her, seemingly avoiding her gaze that rained fire on anything that happened to be in its path.
"Would you like to explain why we found this near the arena?" Astrid demanded, shaking herself from Hiccup's grip and taking a few steps towards him.
"I was walking around the village," Jerrick replied.
"At the arena?" She asked.
"I passed by that place."
"Why did you go there?"
"Because I have legs. I can move around."
"Don't play games with me! You know what I'm asking."
Suddenly, Jerrick felt anger well up within him. Gone was the fear of having to deal with this irrational, crazed woman. Why couldn't he walk around the village? He wasn't a prisoner. He was simply a shipwrecked boy waiting for means to travel back home.
"Why can't I be near the arena?" He shot back. "Why can't I walk around the village? Am I a prisoner?"
Astrid's glare hardened. Jerrick's glare hardened too. He might be only fourteen years old, but he wasn't going to back down from this.
"Astrid, that's enough," Hiccup's strong voice called out. She glared at Hiccup. Hiccup didn't budge. The frown on his face added five years to his age.
Suddenly, Astrid let out a yell. She flung the medallion at Hiccup and stormed off. Hiccup fumbled with it for a second, but he caught it. "Come on Stormfly," she called to her Nadder. The Nadder squawked and trotted off after her. Jerrick glared at her until she disappeared from her sight.
Jerrick met Hiccup's apologetic eyes. His face had softened, and his eyes looked at Jerrick with concern. "Sorry about that," he said.
"I hate her guts," Jerrick muttered. Hiccup sighed.
"I believe this is yours," he said, holding out the medallion. Jerrick held out his hand underneath the medallion, and Hiccup released it. He pocketed the medallion quickly. "You should go back to the hut," Hiccup suggested. Jerrick nodded, and began to head to his hut. He opened the door and entered into the warmth.
When the door closed, Hiccup gave a signal, and the dragon riders mounted their dragons and prepared to go home. It had been a long day. From the start of the day, they had been fine tuning the plan, making final preparations in the forge - well, at least he was in the forge. Where the others were during that time he had no idea. Then came the rehearsal, and finally the chase for the intruder that yielded nothing. He frowned when he thought about that. It definitely annoyed him that Phlegma had been attacked and they couldn't find out who it was. But what annoyed him more was that there was nothing they could do about it. Almost all the evidence was gone. The dragons hadn't been able to pick up the scent after they reached the cliff. He sighed. He was prepared to go back and take a much needed rest. Tomorrow gave nothing but the promise of working in the forge again.
Hiccup landed in front of his house and dismounted Toothless. Together, the two of them climbed up the stairs to the loft. Wearily, he began to peel off his armour. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Toothless nosing his bed frame. That's when he remembered. Toothless was concerned about something in the morning. He had been too busy with Astrid to take any notice. Better late than never.
"Toothless," Hiccup said. "What is it?" The black dragon glanced at Hiccup, and then fixed his eyes on the bed frame. He sniffed the wooden frame, and immediately he let out a low growl and his eyes turned into slits. There had to be something amiss. Toothless wouldn't act like this if there wasn't. Hiccup picked up the candle and kneeled beside Toothless. He looked at the exact spot Toothless had looked at. What was it? There wasn't anything unusual about the bed. Maybe Sharpshot had been here.
Suddenly, Hiccup saw it. If Toothless hadn't acted strangely, he would never have seen it. It was no larger than a tiny spot. There was a tiny, crimson red spot on the wooden bed frame. It almost blended in perfectly with the colour of the wooden frame. Why was there a small spot of blood on his bed frame? It was quite fresh too, no older than a day. As he was still wondering how the blood spot appeared there, he spotted Toothless sniffing the wall near the hatch. He held the candle up to the hatch and squinted. It took no longer than three seconds for his eyes to widen. There was another spot of blood on the wall, but it was slightly larger than the previous one.
"What is happening over here?" He wondered aloud. Toothless glanced over to Hiccup, and leapt out of the hatch. Hiccup followed him out onto the roof. The clouds covered the moon, casting a shadow over the land, as if the mystery he was facing wasn't shadowy enough. Toothless eyed a spot on the roof, and Hiccup knew what to expect. Sure enough, there was another spot of blood. Who had bled on his bed frame, his wall, and his roof? It wasn't him, that much was certain. But then, who? He scratched his head. He was tempted to find out who it was, but it could be anyone. Why would anyone enter his house? There wasn't a single Berkian that Hiccup didn't trust. Besides, no Berkian would've entered his house without his permission. Even with permission, they wouldn't normally enter unless there was an emergency. So who could it be?
"Come on Toothless," he sighed. "Our work's not done for the night."
XX
It had taken exactly sixteen minutes for all the riders to gather in the Great Hall. It could have taken five, but the twins had decided that moaning was more effective than dressing up, and they ended up taking an additional ten minutes to get to the hall. Hiccup met Astrid's glare at the end of the table. He forced himself to look away. Apologising could be done later.
"The reason why I gathered all of you so suddenly is because…" Hiccup was interrupted by the twins.
"You're turning into a dragon!" Ruff shouted. Hiccup couldn't believe it.
"No, guys, I'm not turning into a dragon," Hiccup said. "I gathered all of you because…"
"You're turning us into a dragon," Tuff said, putting his hands on his face and letting out a groan. "How could you, H? I always knew you would do something like this."
"I'm not turning you into a… wait, what do you mean you knew I would do something like this?" Hiccup asked.
Astrid slammed her axe on the table. "Get to the point, Hiccup." She said, stern blue eyes piercing the soul of its target.
"The reason I called you guys is because I found blood stains on my bed frame," Hiccup said.
"Big deal," Snotlout shot back.
"It wasn't there before," Hiccup said exasperatedly.
"You bled at night, and the blood landed on your bed," Snotlout replied in a mocking voice. "That doesn't mean you have to call us all to a meeting at night!" He flung his arms out at the last word.
"That's not what happened, Snotlout," Hiccup said timelessly. "The blood isn't mine."
"Then who's blood is that?" Snotlout asked in a high pitched voice.
"That's why I called you here," Hiccup replied, sighing. "We need to figure out who's blood is that, because whoever that person is would have seen the plans for the operation."
"Why don't we just ask Toothless to follow the scent?" Fishlegs asked.
"He lost it," Hiccup replied. "The scent led to the bottom of my house and disappeared."
"Maybe it was a ghost!" Tuff shouted.
"Or maybe a troll!" Ruff added.
"Or maybe-"
"Maybe it was your blood after I chop off your annoying heads!" Snotlout yelled.
"Could you two muttonheads focus for once?" Astrid said sternly. There was a brief silence as the twins gazed emptily at Astrid. Finally, Tuffnut broke the silence with a sigh.
"Alright sis," he said. "Let us behave like normal people. Who do you think caused the bloodstain?"
"I don't know, dear brother," Ruff replied in that annoying, pretentious voice they used occasionally. "But if I had to guess, it would be Brandt."
"No way," Tuff said in the same annoying voice. "Brandt, the shipwrecked boy?"
"Obviously," Ruff said. "Who else could it be?"
"Guys," Hiccup interjected. "Can we leave him out of this? I don't think he's the one."
"Oh really," Tuff shot back, hands on his hips. "Then what do you make of the scab on his palm?"
"When did you see that?" Fishlegs asked.
"When Hiccup held the medallion out for him to take," Tuff said in a matter-of-fact voice. "He held out his palm like this." Tuffnut stretched his arm out, palm upturned, facing the sky.
"And we found the medallion near the arena…" Hiccup wondered out loud.
"And all the mud stains on his clothes," Ruff added.
"Not to mention the engraving at the back of his breastplate too," Tuff added.
"What engraving?" Hiccup asked.
"The engraving on the faded leather piece on the back of his armour," Tuff said, rolling his eyes.
"It says JT Brandt," Ruff said.
"Gobber told me his middle name is Jerrick," Hiccup said in a tone that clearly showed he didn't understand the twins.
"Who writes their name like this?" Tuff explained. "Would you engrave your name as HH Hiccup? Or IH Astrid? Or JI Fishlegs? Or-"
"Yeah we get the point," Snotlout said quickly. "For once, I agree with these muttonheads. Who puts their middle name first?"
"What's wrong with writing your name backwards?" Hiccup asked.
"It's not backwards - at least, I don't think it is," Snotlout explained exasperatedly. "Jerrick T - whatever T stands for - is his first two names. Brandt is his last name. Do I have to explain everything to you?"
"He lied to us," Fishlegs said, connecting the dots. "Why would a shipwrecked boy lie to us?"
"Exactly, Fishlegs," Tuffnut said, slamming the table. "Why would a shipwrecked boy lie to us? Unless…"
"He's not actually shipwrecked," Ruffnut finished. "He's a spy."
"Or a killer," Tuffnut added. "A killer who's target is Hiccup. Why else would he be in H's house?"
Hiccup leaned forward on the table and gazed emptily at the back of the hall. His mind raced with various thoughts, many of which were implanted by the twins and Snotlout. Who knew they had it in them? In the background, the flames of the torches hung on the pillars of the Great Hall cackled. Eerie shadows jumped around on the floor as the flames danced on the top of the torch. A single word escaped Hiccup's mouth, "Brandt." It was no louder than a soft whisper, and it was definitely the softest word uttered in the hall that night, but it carried more malice than any of the other words. Even when Snotlout corrected him with "Jerrick", the hard green gaze remained focused.
"Now do you believe me, Hiccup?" Astrid shot. Hiccup still didn't reply. His eyes were far away.
"If he is what you think he is," Hiccup said dryly. He paused. "Then we better test it out."
"What do you mean?" Fishlegs asked with a soft squeak in his voice. Hiccup turned and leaned forward on the table. His auburn fringe cast a shadow over his eyes. A torch crackled in the background, causing the shadow to dance slowly. The tightly pursed lips that were curved downwards slightly gave him a deadly look. His eyebrows pushed themselves into a frown, and his emerald eyes hardened.
"If we want to find out the truth about Jerrick, we need to test him," Hiccup explained. He looked at all the riders with his stern, dead-set look.
"Tomorrow, we will put Jerrick to the test."
