Chapter 13: The Wait

Cami woke up to Magnus banging the door of her cage open. She sat up, but didn't stand, and looked at the floor. He grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the cage. She bit back a cry of pain as he squeezed one of her new bruises. Without a word, he shoved her to the ground and kicked her stomach. Cami cried out, unable to hold in her pain.

Stoick yelled, "Stop! Why are you hitting her? She didn't do anything!" This was the worst possible thing for him to do, because it just made Magnus madder. He kicked Cami again.

"She doesn't deserve to stay in the cage all day, does she?" Magnus laughed. Cami tried to sit up, but Magnus pushed hard on her shoulder until she was back on the ground.

The others had seemed to get the message that they didn't need to day anything, because the room was quiet after that. Magnus bent down and picked up Cami by the front of her tunic. He set her down on her feet and said, "Listen here, girl. You stole valuable property, and injured a flyer yesterday. Do you know what that means?"

Cami didn't answer him. She didn't want to make him angrier. But she was happy to know she injured someone yesterday before getting shot down. Magnus walked to the corner, and brought out something. At first Cami thought is was a whip, but when he held it out to her, she saw it was her bow. Oh no.

He inspected it, and said, "So, you figured out how to melt dragon scales." Magnus lowered his voice and put his hand under her chin so she had to look him in the eyes. "You will tell me how to melt the dragon scales."

It wasn't a question, it was an order. Orders were to be obeyed. Cami used all of her strength and said, "No."

"What did you say to me?" Magnus raised his voice, pleased when the girl flinched.

Cami glared at him. "I said no." Magnus raised the bow and hit her side as hard as he could. She fell over, her shoulder hitting Hiccup's cage.

Magnus kicked her again. "You will tell me eventually," he told her, then he picked Cami up and shoved her back in her cage. "I hope you all learned a lesson," Magnus announced, glaring at Cami. "Do not disobey orders." He slammed the door to her cage shut, then stomped out of the room.

When Magnus was gone, Hiccup asked, "Are you Ok Cami?" Cami's breathing was heavy. She tried to get it under control, but the more she tried the worse it got.

"No," she answered shortly, not wanting to talk to anyone. Her arms hurt, and she could feel a huge bruise forming on her side. Cami could feel tears forming in her eyes, so she closed them and pushed her back to the wall closest to Jack, so no one could see her cry.

It was late afternoon when four hunters walked in the room and gave each prisoner a piece of stale bread and a cup of water. After they had each eaten their meager meal, the hunters took them out of their cages and walked them to a different building. One of the hunters had both Jack and Cami, since they were both smaller than the other Vikings, but they didn't try to escape. They would just be caught and punished.

The five prisoners were shoved in a room with many others. Snotlout found Allen almost immediately. Hiccup started talking to Fishlegs, but Cami didn't notice any of that.

She saw a group of three teens, with one of them holding a little girl, about four years old. She walked to them, her side hurting so bad she couldn't go very fast. When she made it to them, the little girl exclaimed in her baby voice, "Cami! I knew you'd come back to see me!" The little girl stood up and tried to climb up Cami.

"Ouch Wren, let me sit down," Cami told the little girl, before sitting down. Wren jumped into Cami's lap. The teen sitting next to Cami giggled and hugged her.

"I'm glad you're back," the girl told her. "Wait, no I'm not! How did you get recaptured?"

"I'm sorry Abbie, I really didn't mean to," Cami told her old friend. Cami was happy to see Abbie, even if it was in the worst situation. Abbie was the first girl to comfort seven-year-old Cami when she first arrived. Abbie was a year older than Cami, and acted like a big sister.

Beside Abbie sat Jorden and Emma. They were Cami and Jack's friends. Jorden jumped on Jack and started wrestling him. Jack treated Jorden like his little brother, protecting him and playing with him. It was obvious that Jorden missed him a lot.

Emma looked at Cami's face and frowned. "They hit you again, didn't they?" she said sadly. Cami nodded and looked at Wren. She was playing with the end of Cami's belt.

"Wren missed you," Abbie told her.

Cami leaned down and kissed the little girl's head. "I'm sorry I left you here."

Wren looked up at Cami. "But now you'll take me with you this time!"

"I hope so," Cami said, smiling at the little girl in her lap. Cami felt a hand on her shoulder, and she jumped before she could think.

"Hey!" Emma said, "Don't touch her!" Cami looked behind her. It was Stoick.

"Sorry Cami," he said.

"It's ok, Stoick. I'm just on edge. This is Emma," Cami replied. "Emma, this is Stoick." Emma nodded at him, but didn't stop glaring at him.

Jack woke up to his right arm burning. It had been three day since they had been captured. He looked around to room. He was with all the dragon riders, and his friends. A hunter cut his arm yesterday when he didn't sharpen a sword right when he was in the forge.

He looked at Cami, who was asleep beside him. A cut from the end of her right eyebrow to her chin stood dark red against her pale skin. A hunter had cut her face the day before, because she wouldn't tell them how to melt dragon scales. Even though Jack hated to see Cami get hurt, Jack knew that if she told them, they would become unstoppable.

Wren laid on top of Cami, luckily the hunters didn't go after her, because she was so little. If she was older, they would hurt her to hurt Cami. Jack was glad the hunters knew that they would kill the weak little girl if they treated her the way they treated the teens.

Jorden was asleep, using Jack's unhurt arm as a pillow. The little boy had so much energy! He always wanted to protect others from the hunters, but he was too little to stand up to the hunters, even if he tried his best. This left him getting hurt many times, and Jack usually helped him through his pain.

The dragons riders from Berk were on the other side of the room. The hunters had taken Hiccup's peg leg so he could only walk if he had help. This made Hiccup furious, but that was their intention, it only made them laugh. Allen kept cracking his knuckles when the hunters entered the room, which earned him a few good kicks to the stomach. Jack was annoyed to no end when it came to that boy. He was so immature.

Cami moaned, sat up, and started to rub her face. She quickly pulled her hand away when she realized she rubbed her scab off. "Great," she whispered, looking at her hand that was covered in blood.

"Need help?" Jack whispered to her. Cami sighed. She showed him her blood-covered hand. Jack hummed a tune Emma sometimes sang to the kids as he grabbed a clean bandage from the corner of the room and dabbed her face. "You should be more careful," he told her. She started to say something, but her words were muffled by the bandage Jack was using to clean her face.

She pushed his hand away and said, "I try my best." Jack put his arm around Cami's shoulders, pulling her to him. She leaned against him, and Wren shifted in Cami's lap. Jack smiled at they way Cami loved the little girl. When Wren's mother died when she was a baby, Cami took care of the little girl. Wren loved Cami, and after Cami escaped, Wren was upset all the time because she wasn't there. Cami's head laid on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry you got captured. It's my fault," Cami whispered. Jack frowned.

"Cami, why in the world is that your fault? I wasn't a good enough flyer."

Cami shook her head. "Your tried to rescue me when Starblaze was shot. Then when they let you go, the dragons could have rescued you guys, but they didn't. It was because of me." She mumbled the last part so quiet Jack could barely hear her.

Jack held her closer. "Cami, this wasn't your fault. It was Magnus's. Don't let him succeed. We need you."

Suddenly, Cami caught sight of his arm. "Jack! Why didn't you say something?"

Jack lifter his arm from Cami's shoulders and looked at it. It did look pretty bad, and Cami frowned when she saw it fully. She snatched the leftover bandages from Jack cleaning her face, and wrapped the cut. "There," she said after she was done.

"Thanks," he whispered back. He put his arm back around Cami and pulled her to him. For once she didn't resist. Jack knew Cami was being too hard on herself, but how to tell her that? Jack had no idea.

The hunters burst into the room, waking everyone up. Jack pulled his arm away form Cami, and Wren woke up and started fussing. Cami shushed her while the hunters yelled, "Time to work, slaves!" Jack was grabbed to go to the forge again. Cami was grabbed by a different hunter. She probably was going to get questioned again.

As Jack watched all the riders leave, he started to think of a plan that might just get them home.

The hunter lead Cami to a dark room with no windows. Magnus's office. He was sitting behind his desk, staring at a map. He glanced up when Cami entered, and smiled evilly. He stood up, and picked up handcuffs off his desk. He walked towards her and hooked one end over her wrist, looped it through her belt, and hooked the other end on her other wrist. She couldn't make her hands more than an inch.

Magnus ordered the hunter, "Leave us." Then he turned to Cami. "Sit down."

Not wanting to get him even more mad, Cami sat down on a chair close to Magnus's desk. He sat in the chair beside her.

"Now, you will tell me how to melt dragon scales," he told her.

Cami knew what would happen if she refused, but she said, "No." As soon as the word left her mouth Magnus slapped her face. Cami tasted blood, but just glared at Magnus. He stared back.

"I understand that your friend Hiccup has taken quite the liking to you," he said, fiddling with Hiccup's wooden leg that lay on the table.

Cami was surprised when he didn't hit her again, but said, "Not really. I just had valuable information." She shrugged. Better not let him see her nervous.

Magnus leaned back and crossed his arms. "No, I think he likes you. And I know why. Would you like to know?"

Cami rolled her eyes. "I think I'm good."

He stood up and punched her stomach. "Don't get attitude with me!" Magnus yelled. Then he took a deep breath and sat back down. "I will tell you anyways. Hiccup Haddock is your father." He smiled.

She looked at him like he was crazy. "Really? I knew you were crazy, but this takes the cake!" His face scrunched up in fury and he shoved her off her chair. She landed on her hip, closing her eyes in pain. She could'nt push herself off the ground because of the handcuffs holding her wrists.

"Look at me girl!" Magnus ordered. She opened her eyes to see him standing over her. "You were kidnapped to kill Hiccup from the inside. I wanted to get his son, but unfortunately, I got you." He leaned down and got so close to Cami that she could smell his awful breath. "You never quit when your supposed to." He kicked her, and then unsheathed his sword.

Cami gasped, "You wouldn't kill me!"

Magnus laughed, "No, I won't kill you, just hurt you." He took the point of his sword and ran it down her leg. She gasped in pain as the sword made a deep cut from the middle of her thigh to the end of her boot. "You tell Hiccup what you found out today, and I won't do this tomorrow." He spoke with menace in his voice. He yelled for his hunters, and told them something, but Cami was trying so hard not to cry she didn't hear any of it. She felt a hunter pull her arm and drag her to the prisoners' building. She fell when the hunter let go of her, landing hard on the dirty floor. The hunter took off the handcuffs, and left the room.

"Cami?" a voice asked, but Cami was in too much pain to answer. Two hands pulled her towards a wall, and propped her up in a corner. She opened her eyes and saw Hiccup. Her dad.

"Get away from me!" Cami didn't mean the words to come out so loudly, but Hiccup looked stunned.

"I'm sorry Cami, I didn't mean to..." Hiccup started, but stopped when Cami started crying.

"I'm sorry Hiccup, I-" her words were cut off by a sob. She pressed on, "Hiccup, I'm... your-" she couldn't get the words out, not now.

Hiccup put his hand on her shoulder. "It's ok Cami, you can tell me later. Right now, we need to get your leg fixed up." He looked down at her leg. Her leggings were dark with blood. He grabbed some bandages and started wrapping Cami's wound. Hiccup was surprised that Cami didn't want to do it herself. She must be in a lot of pain.

After a hour or two, Jack came in. He immediately saw Cami laying in the corner and rushed to her.

"What happened Cami?" Jack asked her gently.

Hiccup was still sitting beside of her, and he told Jack, "Magnus happened." Jack winced and sat on the other side of Cami.

"Emma should be here soon," he told her, knowing that if he distracted her she might talk back to him. "The hunters let me off early today since I worked so hard."

"That's good," Cami mumbled. She tried to look at him but couldn't open her eyes long enough. Jack noticed this and took her hand.

"Hiccup, I was thinking of a plan to get out of here. What do you say about..." Jack told Hiccup. Cami couldn't listen to Jack and Hiccup's conversation as she drifted off the sleep, leaning on Jack.

Please don't hate me! It will get better! Hope you guys enjoy and leave a review!