Alphas raised an eyebrow.
"How common are twins on Berk, exactly?" he asked.
"Not… too common," Hiccup said, a little hesitantly.
"Interesting," Alphas mused. "Twins are rather common back home. Every family has at least one pair of twins. Perhaps the magic affects fertility."
"I'm… not going to say anything to that," Hiccup said.
"Wait," Tuffnut blurted. "There's more twins?"
"Yes." Alphas quirked an eyebrow. "You should have gotten that, I think."
"Really?"
"Well… now that I'm really talking to you, I suppose not."
"So, Alphas," Omegas interrupted, leaning against the cell door. "How do you know them?"
"Wonderful story, actually," Alphas said, smiling. He looked at Hiccup. "Would you like to tell him?"
"Uh… well… we kinda… kidnapped him… I guess…" Hiccup said, hesitantly.
"Sounds great," Omegas nodded. "Tell me more about it later. How are we going to get out?"
This question was directed to Alphas, who pondered it for a moment before looking up.
"Same way we do it every time."
"Gotcha."
"You guys get caught often?" Hiccup asked mildly, languishing in his cell.
"Too often. Most people don't get jailed in their life," Omegas sighed. "Alphas got caught five times, three times with me. This is the fourth."
"That sounds like… a bit much," Astrid spoke up. "We've only been imprisoned once, I think. And that wasn't even all of us."
"Lucky."
"Alright, game plan," Alphas interrupted. "Everyone's going to be good prisoners and not act suspicious. Then I'll get us out of here."
"No offence," Hiccup said, "but that sounds like a terrible plan."
"Looks like you're keeping up your little trend of judging before you get to know the details. How charming."
Hiccup flushed with mild anger. "Okay, look here-"
"Shut up! All of you!" a guard yelled, banging on the door. "You won't get any food if you keep talkin'!"
Snotlout, who hadn't really said a single word so far, somehow managed to get even quieter. Fishlegs started hyperventilating.
Alphas looked at them, and his face said it all. 'What' was the only thing he could possibly be expressing with a face like that. And he meant it in all the ways it could possibly be applied, in any situation.
Blinking, and clasping his hands together, he put a finger to his lips, signalling for everyone to stay quiet. And they did.
=0=
The guards' names were Kolger and Borlne. Kolger was constantly drunk, and Borlne kept trying to hide the ale to keep Kolger sober, but he always found them somehow. Kolger always had the first shift, and Borlne had the second, but he would keep coming around to check on him every hour or so. They would be given food 3 times a day, much to Fishlegs' disappointment. He couldn't complain about the quality of the food though, it was definitely better than Berkian meat, according to the Berkians.
Alphas mentally went through the information he had learned over the past 3 days. It was enough to know what to do, and when to do it. He just had to wait for the perfect time, when Kolger gave them food and Borlne wasn't hanging around.
That time came a little later that day, around midday.
Kolger came in with plates of food, and set them down in front of everyone's cells. He opened every hatch, one by one, and let the food slide into the individual plates of every prisoner. Alphas waited patiently for his turn. Kolger just went back to his chair when he was done, where he sat down and talked to himself.
Alphas waited until he went out of the room, then quietly went to the window of his cell, where he could see the ocean a little below him, and dropped the food out. He turned back to see a look of horror from Snotlout, who was chewing furiously. He swallowed and opened his mouth to speak. Alphas quickly shushed him with some desperate hand waving.
And then he set the ball rolling.
"Guard," he called from his cell, speaking in a monotone. Kolger did not respond.
"Guard." There was no response.
"Guard!" Alphas called, a little louder. Again, there was no response.
"Kolger!" he yelled this time. There was a crash from the other room, and Kolger seemed to materialize at the door, he moved so fast.
"The hell do you want?" he shouted back.
"You didn't give me my food, Kolger." Alphas showed him the empty plate.
The guard grunted, and disappeared for a moment, returning again with a plate of food. He strode towards Alphas' cell, and stood for a moment in deep thought.
"Bring your plate up," he intoned in a voice of deep sorrow. Alphas brought it up, and Kolger went to tip the food in. But then, what happened next, happened very quickly.
Alphas dropped the plate, and his hands shot through the hatch. He threw the plate to the side with a deft flick and grabbed Kolger's tunic with one hand, the other going to his waist to grab the keys. He pinched them and withdrew his hand in a second, holding the keys close to his chest, then pulled Kolger in so that his face slammed against the door. The unfortunate guard dropped limply to the floor.
Alphas put his hand through the hatch, and tried the keys on the door. Everyone held their breath.
The first key didn't work. Neither did the second, but the third did, and the doors swung open. Alphas stepped out, grinning.
"What did I tell you?" he said.
He strode over to Hiccup's cell, and tried the fourth key on it. It opened immediately. He went to everyone else's cells, and opened each of them in turn.
"Now," he said, throwing the keys aside, "I think it's time to escape."