Chapter 12
A/N: Sorry, not sorry for the cliffy last chap. Anyway! On with the fic!
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Astrid looked curiously at the ship as they approached closer. Something was off about it. Even its course seemed to have changed slightly and it rocked against the waves, instead of flowing with them. She held up a hand, signaling for Heather and the twins to wait while she swooped closer.
What she saw was shocking. There were chunks of wood torn from the very deck and it sat low on the water. Looking through a hole large enough for Stormfly to fit easily inside, she saw supplies and broken pieces of wood sloshing back and forth in water. It was sinking and there was no sign of a crew.
"Land, Stormfly. But gently. The whole deck might give." The dragon back winged in the air, legs coming down to gingerly test the integrity of the wood, before settling.
Astrid was tense for a moment, as the wood creaked, but it held. She dismounted and picked her way over the broken boards, trying to find a clue as to what had done this. Then she saw claw marks. Dragon claw marks. Before she could get closer, Heather and Windshear landed, followed quickly by Barf, Belch and the twins. Ruffnut looked around and Tuffnut whistled.
"Man. These guys need to work on their decorating." Tuff quipped.
Heather moved closer to the claw marks. "I've seen this before." She whispered.
Astrid looked at her. "What do you mean?"
Heather looked up at her, confusion and just a hint of fear in her eyes. "Remember the chest on my island?"
"The one you said you found on Knucklebone?"
Heather nodded. "The ship was torn up like this. I thought it must have happened after it landed, some curious dragons coming to investigate. The marks are identical."
Realization dawned. "But if this ship is torn up by the same dragons."
"Then there are dragons attacking ships somewhere." Heather finished.
"Then the crew?" Astrid asked, almost afraid to speculate.
Heather gave her a pained look. Astrid's heart dropped, but she refused to consider the thought. Dragons didn't eat people at least not the species they knew. But they would kill them. There should be at least bodies. There wasn't even a sign of blood. Where were the people? There was no way they could have carried every single person off the ship. A glance confirmed that the lifeboats were still on board and in no condition to be seaworthy.
She shook her head. There would be time for questions later. They needed to get this ship back to the Edge so that they could inspect it more thoroughly before it sank or was dashed apart on the rocks. It was the closest island, but still very far out and she wasn't sure they could sail it well in this condition. She turned to one of the holes and dropped down into the water. It was knee deep and sloshing strongly. Again, there were no bodies. Everything that wasn't tied down was afloat or rolling along the bottom, making her footing treacherous, but, a few minutes of search revealed the very thing she'd been looking for. Ropes. They were waterlogged and swollen, but they'd do the job. She looped them over her shoulder, soaking herself in frigid seawater in the process, and climbed back up onto the deck. Ruffnut and Heather grasped her arms and helped her the last few feet.
"Everyone take a rope. Secure it to the dragons and tie it where it won't come loose. We're going to tow it to the northern beach." She ordered.
They all complied. Astrid shot Heather an apologetic look for ordering her around like the others, but the ebony rider sent her a wan smile. They had decided to keep their secret from the others so Astrid couldn't treat her differently. That didn't mean she liked it though. She sighed and secured her own rope to the very front of the ship, before looping it over Stormfly's chest and securing it to her saddle straps.
"Everyone ready?" She called.
They all called affirmatives and Astrid mounted and took off. The others joined her in the air a moment later and they started back towards The Edge, slowly tightening the ropes, so as not to jerk the dragons. When they were taut, the beasts strained a bit, but, once the ship had turned to flow with the waves it was easier on them and the loyal creatures continued to fly, towing the boat behind them.
They'd covered around half of the distance, when they saw Toothless, Hookfang and Meatlug flying towards them. Astrid waved at Hiccup, relieved, as he guided Toothless to fly near enough for them to talk without shouting.
"What's going on? Is everyone ok?" He asked frantically.
"We're fine." She told him.
"And the people on the ship?" He asked, casting a worried glance down at the vessel.
"No sign of them, but Heather says she's seen something like this before. It's sinking and falling apart, so I thought we should beach it on The Edge so we can try and figure out what happened."
"Good call. Let us help. We'll get home faster." He told her.
Without waiting for an answer he guided Toothless to land on the deck. Snotlout and Fishlegs followed. A few minutes later, the three joined them. The ship moved much faster with the aid of the other dragons and they made much better time. It was still late afternoon, though, by the time the dragons had drug the ship far enough up on the small, icy beach for it not to be in danger of high tides slipping it away.
Hiccup looked around and, taking in the fatigued dragons, decided it would be best to get them back into warmer temperatures so they could rest, before they inspected the vessel. "Well. It isn't going anywhere. Let's get back to the compound. We can investigate tomorrow morning." Everyone agreed.
The dragons waited patiently for their ropes to be removed and wearily flew back to the compound. No sooner had they reached it did they set off to the stables. Astrid scratched Stormfly's brow, praising her and promising her a good meal after her nap. The Nadder nuzzled her gently before retiring.
The riders made their way to Hiccup's hut in unison. Kari, Calder and Dustin were waiting for them. "The dragons looked exhausted. Is everything ok?" Kari asked worriedly.
Hiccup didn't say anything, gesturing for them to sit down. He then looked to Astrid to tell them what had happened. "Heather and I spotted a ship on the horizon just as we were about to head back to the compound. I sent Snotlout to look for hiccup and had Fishlegs stay to set up defenses in case it was an enemy, while Heather, the twins and I went out to investigate. When we got there, I noticed something off about the ship and landed. It was devastated."
"What could have done it?" Dustin asked.
Astrid looked to Heather. "Tell them about the ship you found."
Heather nodded. "It was about a month ago. I was investigating for signs of my brother and his army when I found a shipwreck on a tiny island. It was more apart than together and there were no signs of any people. All the supplies were still there. I even found a chest with some treasure in it. No one would have left that chest behind if they'd had a choice. There were dragon claw marks everywhere. I assumed that dragons had investigated the wreck after it happened, but the marks were almost exactly the same as the ship we found today. I think it was attacked like this one had to have been."
They were all silent for a moment. "It doesn't make sense." Hiccup suddenly said. "Why would dragons attack a ship?"
"And the people. What happened to them?" Calder asked.
Astrid shook her head. "No one. Not even bodies."
"No blood either." Ruffnut supplied.
"If it were there, she'd have found it." Tuffnut said eagerly. "She's good like that. Its kind've creepy when you think about it, actually." He said thoughtfully, a contemplative look on his face.
Ruffnut smoothly punched him out of his seat. "That's how I got so good at it." She said smugly, crossing her arms with a smirk.
A few of them laughed. Astrid wasn't sure whether to be grateful that the two had eased the tension or not. For a few moments, everyone was silent, each lost to their own thoughts. The sound of the dinner bell broke the silence.
Hiccup stood. "Well, we won't know more about what happened until in the morning. I want my riders patrolling round the clock tonight after dinner. You know the shifts." Everyone rose and began filing out.
"Need an extra set of eyes?" Heather asked.
Hiccup smiled at her. "I was hoping you'd ask. That would be great. You can go after Astrid. It'll give everyone some extra sleep. Something tells me we're going to need it."
"Anything we can do?" Calder asked.
Hiccup shook his head. "No, but thank you, sir."
Calder shook a massive finger at him. "What have I told you about `sir'?"
Hiccup hemmed. "Sorry, Calder."
The chief and captain nodded, before exiting. Kari hung back. Astrid sensed she wanted to speak to Hiccup alone and decided that she could wait to talk to him. He was right anyway. Speculation could only get them so far.
She went to get her dinner. Her shift was after everyone but Hiccup's, so that meant she had a few hours to sleep. She knew if she managed even those she'd be lucky. Her mind was in turmoil. Dragons attacking ships, disappearing people and that was just what they knew. She had a feeling that things were about to go south and fast.
Her eyes met Heather's. She looked just as worried as Astrid felt. Suddenly, Astrid didn't feel like eating. All she wanted to do at this moment was hold her girlfriend close. Heather seemed to feel the same and they made their way back to Astrid's hut.
Wordlessly, they undressed and climbed into the bed. Astrid pulled Heather into her arms and they just held each other. Astrid felt calmer now, but not by much. Heather felt tense and so she gently stroked her hair, kissing her temple softly. It wasn't long before they drifted into a fitful sleep.
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And there is chapter 12! Hope you enjoyed.
I just want to take moment to thank everyone for their continued reviews and support. You guys are awesome.
See you next time, my loves! Ja!