Surprise! Early update! Hopefully you all enjoy it. :)
Chapter Thirty-Seven: A Familiar Face
Eret looked at the Night Fury scale in his fingers, his lower lip between his teeth and a song on his tongue. That woman must have stowed away on that ship, he decided. But there was something about her he couldn't quite put his finger on. Was it the blonde hair? The blue eyes? She wasn't a southerner like everyone outside the alliance borders. She was probably a northerner, he thought as he shifted the scale back and forth to reflect the grey light of day over it.
"Should have looked for some more furs while you were up in that ship," one of his men growled under his breath. "I'm freezing my ass off."
"There was nothing on that ship worth getting," Eret replied.
"What about that woman?" another man asked. "Been awfully long time since I've had some company, if you catch my –"
"Shut it," Eret sighed. "I already told you there was nothing on that ship worth getting. If we find ourselves some dragons, then Dagur will give you any woman you want."
The men groaned and walked away, mumbling nonsense about things they missed and things they wanted. There was no end with those fools, Eret thought. The sooner they found a dragon, the sooner they would stop complaining. But Dagur had pillaged most dragons out of the neutral territory so they had to sail further north to find nests that hadn't been scared off. They were smart creatures.
Not smart enough to avoid the north, he thought with a smirk. North was where Dagur and Alvin were. North of Outcast Island, beyond the boundaries any ship dared sail, besides his own and those of the Berserkers. Hard as hell to find through the tiny islands that threatened to gut the boats that travelled there. He pulled the Night Fury scale over his head and tucked it under his shirt. He wiped the back of his hand across his nose and coughed, then went to the wheel of his ship. They were inside alliance borders now.
"Keep all eyes out for any signs of movement!" he ordered his men. "We're entering dragon territory."
They sailed on, and Eret kept vigilant, waiting for a flicker or a twitch, something to latch onto. Men were already waiting with harpoons, nets, and the trap was cranked open, ready to hold any dragon they could wrap their ropes around.
"Mehran, do you see anything?" Eret asked. Mehran, an old buzzard of a man, looked down at him and scoffed.
"If I saw somethin', I would tell yah," he sneered. He returned to his telescope and chewed on whatever disgusting sludge he was chewing on. Eret kept looking at him, arms crossed, until Mehran rolled his eyes and looked back down again. "If I was your real dad, I'd smack that look right off your face."
"Too bad you're not, then," Eret replied. "Also, the scope works better if you flip it around the other way."
Mehran looked at the scope in his hands, which was backwards, and he sneered at Eret, his bushy grey and black hair framing his chubby old face.
"You're not funny, boy," he grumbled.
"Wasn't tryin' to be! What do you see?"
Mehran looked through the scope again. "Oh what a surprise! Nothing! Nothing over there, nothing over here! Just a big bucket of nothing!"
But as he swung the scope towards the left, he faltered and almost choked on his spittle. Eret raised his eyebrows.
"Oh, you see something?" he asked.
Mehran glared at him and spat, missing Eret by feet. "Shut your mouth and steer the ship left, we got a downed one over on one of them icebergs."
"Was that so hard?"
"Eret, if I had both my hands, I'd strangle the life outta yah!"
"Too bad you don't, then!" Eret laughed as he turned the wheel. "Get ready men! We've got one! It's down, but keep wary. It may just be sitting for a rest!
The ship approached a clutch of icebergs that had broken off a small, uninhabited island. There was one big one, and a dragon was curled up in a ball on the surface.
"It's alive," Mehran croaked from the nest atop the mast. "Got some nasty scars! And… wait… uh… Eret, best you take a look at this boy, my eyes are goin' funny."
Mehran tossed Eret the scope, and he looked through it quickly. Seeing the dragon at first confused his mind to a point where he wasn't sure what he was looking at, as if he were to read a word often enough it would seem incorrect. But he blinked a few times until he figured it out.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but – that thing is wearing a saddle!" he told his men as they approached. They were getting closer and closer, and soon they were close enough to fire a harpoon.
The Nadder lifted her head as the ship careened with a small chunk of ice, and she fanned out her crown of spikes, hissing loudly.
"It's alive, alright," Eret grinned. "Get ready!"
The Nadder struggled to stand on the unstable ice as the men aimed their harpoon canons towards her. She fanned out her wings and all the men faltered, looking to Eret.
"What is that thing?" Mehran asked loudly. "Throw up the telescope, I can't see a thing with these stupid eyes!"
"We can figure it out once we catch her, get ready!"
"Wait!" a shrill, tiny voice screamed. Eret froze, a stupefied look on his face, as a little girl's head popped up from behind the Nadder spikes. Her blonde hair was wildly frizzy and curly, and she had blue bags under her big blue eyes. Blonde hair, blue eyes, Eret noticed immediately. "Don't shoot me!"
Eret stormed up to the stern, looking at the girl with a frown.
"What the hell are you doing out here?" he asked.
"Why the heck are you out here?" she retorted grumpily. "Why are you pointing sharp things at me? Huh? Huh, huh, huh?!"
"We're fishermen," Eret lied. The little girl, however, was smart.
"You're a big fat liar, that's what you guys are! You're dragon trappers, I learned all about you when I was a baby! Your boat is straight outta my book!"
"That's not true," Eret stammered, trying to find words. "We, uh, we were sent out to find you!"
"I've never seen you in my entire life," the girl snapped back.
"I'm an old friend of the family's. Your mum and dad sent me."
The Nadder hissed loudly and flung her tail towards the boat, sending spikes soaring right at Eret's head. Eret ducked and the spikes burrowed into the mast behind him.
"My mama and papa are dead, idiot!" the girl screamed. "Stop lying to me or I'll light your boat on fire, you creep!"
Eret lifted his hands. "Easy, easy, alright!"
His eyes trailed to the Nadder's mechanical wing, which had been torn by the storm a few nights before.
"Did uh… did you build that?" he asked carefully, looking over to one of his men, who tightened his grip on his canon.
"No," she huffed.
"It's broken."
"That's obviou – obvi – I know that, stupid!" she struggled to say, frowning at her inability to pronounce the right word. "I'm waiting for people to come get me!"
"I don't think anyone is coming," Eret replied seriously. "There was a massive storm that passed through this way, they would have avoided it."
"You don't know that," the girl whined. "You're an idiot."
Eret looked to his man again, who gave a little nod. "Why don't, uh… I could give you a ride. I have room for your dragon on my dragon ship, and I'm heading north. You're from the north, I take it?"
"I'm from Berk," she responded proudly.
"Which is north," he finished. "I thought Berk was wiped out, lass. Nothing left of it."
Snowdrop bit her lip, then puffed out her chest. "You're right. I'm all that's left."
"Shame," Eret said sarcastically.
"You men are bad men," the girl said, wonderingly. She pointed up to Eret's sails, which had the Skrill painted upon them. "Which means you probably know other bad men, yes?"
Eret pursed his lips and wrinkled his nose. "What?"
"Don't lie, I can tell when you're lying. The weird paint lines on your chin do this weird shifty thingy – hey, do you have those fings because you can't grow a beard? Everyone on Berk has beards."
Eret put his face in his hand as some of the men snorted. "They're the tribal markings of my people," he said through gritted teeth.
"Are your people bad people?"
"What is this, a game?! No!"
"What about the people who paid you to hunt our dragons? Huh?"
Eret shook his head and snapped at his man. "Will you fire the stupid thing, already?!"
The man shot the canon, sending a harpoon towards them. The Nadder threw the mechanical wing in front of herself, knocking the harpoon out of the way. The dragon shot her tail out and snatched Eret from the ship, holding him over the water. Eret kicked his feet as he held the tail desperately.
"Let go of me!" he said.
"Into the cold water where no one can reach you?" the girl said with a grin. "You sure?!"
"Stop, stop!" he cried. "What do you want?!"
"The troof," the girl replied, putting her chin in her hand The Nadder glared at him. "First, what's your name?"
"Put me back on my ship!"
The girl looked down at the Nadder, who slowly lowered Eret towards the waves below. His boots sank below the surface and he gasped as the water filled them, freezing his toes.
"What's your name?!"
"Eret!" he replied angrily. "Now put me back!"
"Nope, not yet. You're supposed to ask me what my name is now."
"Fine," Eret spat. "What is your name?"
"Snowdrop," she said with a toothy smile. "And this is Stormfly. What are you doing out here?"
"Trapping dragons."
"For who?"
"Why does it matter?!"
Snowdrop rolled her eyes as the Nadder sank Eret into the water up to his shirt. The moment the water touched his groin, he let out a little squeal.
"Dagur! I work for Dagur! Pull me out, pull me out!"
Stormfly pulled Eret out of the water and lifted Eret to eye-level with Snowdrop.
"You think I'm playing games now, idiot?" Snowdrop asked as she crossed her arms. "Last I checked, Dagur was a bad person. I knew you were lying."
"What's Dagur to you?" he asked, shivering uncontrollably.
"He stole my sister," Snowdrop replied. "I want her back, and you are gonna take me to her."
"I don't get to see the inside of the Underground!" Eret yelled. "Even then, how would I know if she was even there?! Now you put me back on my ship or my men will skewer your dragon!"
Snowdrop looked at him with a hilarious degree of disappointment. Stormfly slammed Eret under the water completely, holding him under for a second, then lifting him up and slamming back down again and again.
"I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of YOU DROWNING!" Snowdrop yelled. She lifted Eret up again and glared in his face as Eret sputtered for air, Stormfly's tail now wrapped around his foot. All of his men had abandoned their canons and were either laughing wildly or absolutely dumbfounded as to what to do. But Snowdrop's face had changed from furious to desperate.
"Where did you get that?" she asked quickly as Eret coughed up the rest of the water. He groaned as Snowdrop's eyes remained fixed on the Nigh Fury scale dangling from his neck. Stormfly threw him back onto his boat and with a gallant leap, she jumped onto the boat and scrambled up the side. She rolled Eret over and the dragon sniffed at his shirt, cooing softly. Snowdrop jumped up and over Stormfly's crown and landed on Eret's stomach. The air flew out of him and he gasped for air and Stormfly grabbed the Night Fury.
"Where did you get this?!" she asked again. "This is my sister's, why the heck do you have it?!"
"I – I found it," Eret groaned. "I can – I can take you to it."
"Is she on it?"
Eret cleared his head and looked up at Snowdrop, who was desperately begging him for an answer.
"What did she look like?"
"Like me, but bigger!"
Eret cursed under his breath and tried to sit up, his gut screaming in pain. "There was someone on that ship – she had blonde hair, blue eyes like yours. Tried to kill me with a perring knife."
"Take me to her!" Snowdrop demanded. Mehran looked down from the nest.
"You're gonna be a shitty person if you don't!" he piped in. Eret made a rude gesture towards him and groaned again.
"Fine," he spat. "Your dragon can stay in the trap."
"No," Snowdrop replied. "She stays out here. And no fishy business. If you do this for me, then you can take whatever dragon you find from Berk. It's crawling with them, almost infesting it, now that there are no more people."
Eret glared at Snowdrop. "If you're lying, I'm taking yours."
Snowdrop squealed and gave Eret a hug. "Fank you! Fank you fank you! And I promise! I'm only four, I haven't learned how to lie yet, don't worry!"
Ruffnut sat on the deck of the ship with the back of her head resting against the stern, lolling back and forth with the waves. The barrels holding the ship's supply of fresh water had been obliterated by the storm, and two days of sitting on the boat with nothing but scraps had made her weary. She should have jumped on that ship, she thought to herself. She would have been halfway to Berk by now, she knew.
But she didn't know that man. She thought about the way his ship looked and knew there was no way he was a simple trader. He had traps and canons on his boat, and he didn't look to belong in the alliance. Dragon trappers, she thought. Better than starving or freezing to death on this stupid ship, she thought.
She was able to start a small fire in the room once more to at least dry out a fur or two, which she bundled herself up in outside to keep an eye out for any other fishermen that could take her home. She had already tried creating a slapdash sail and mast, but she didn't have the strength to hoist the railing free to create one. She was useless. Pathetic. Alone.
She sank lower into her furs and wiped away a tear. Trader Johann had been taken by the sea, his one true friend in the entire world. All because she made him go to Berk. He even told her about the dangers of the sea around this time of year and every time she thought of that, she'd bang her head into the wooden stern behind her. She would never see her brother again. She was so close and yet she wouldn't get there. Valka would be so disappointed in her.
Ruffnut opened her eyes and looked out over the sea again feebly. There had to be something, someone, out there. Maybe a dragon. She could train one and get home that way. But there were no dragons around these parts, and she drifted without any discernible direction. She looked one way, then the other, then back the other way. When she saw the faint bobbing of a ship, she tried to stand to meet it, but couldn't find the strength.
The ship approached slowly, painfully slow, as Ruffnut watched with an unwavering eye. It saw her, it was sailing right for her. When she noticed it was the ship of the man who had stolen the Night Fury scale, her smile disappeared. Why were they coming back? She let the boat approach with her perring knife back in her hand under her furs, waiting until she could se the ship turn and float next to her.
"Hello, darling!" the man hollered up. "I've come back!"
Ruffnut didn't respond.
"I've spent an extra day and night tracking you down!" he continued. "I'm taking you home!"
Glee filled her heart, but it was immediately replaced with distrust. When she didn't reply again, Eret licked his lips, worried. They threw the ropes back up and secured the ships together. Eret climbed up with Snowdrop clinging to his back.
"No funny business," she reminded Eret. "If you ditch me here, Stormfly's gonna eat all your men."
"I know, I know," Eret sighed. He had actually grown to like Snowdrop overnight, but he didn't dare admit it in front of his crew. He clambered over the railing and looked about, finding Ruffnut huddled over the furs. Snowdrop jumped off his back and Ruffnut's jaw dropped. She crawled out of her furs towards the child, who slowed her pace. That wasn't Astrid she thought with a huge feeling of disappointment. But it was someone else who had been taken. Snowdrop jumped into Ruffnut's arms, and Ruffnut held her to her frail body as tightly as she could.
"Ruffnut, I found you!" Snowdrop cried. Eret awkwardly turned his back and began giving orders to his men. Snowdrop whispered in Ruffnut's ear. "I told everyone that there's no one on Berk. But that's a lie, okay?"
"Okay," Ruffnut replied quietly. "Is… is Tuffnut okay?"
"Yes."
Tears rushed to Ruffnut's eyes.
"They think we're sisters. Okay?"
"Okay," Ruffnut sputtered through fat tears.
Eret turned and smiled, giving Ruffnut a little bow. "Alright, miladies, let's get you two back to your desolate island. The sooner I can stop feeding you the better."
Ruffnut struggled to stand, holding Snowdrop's hand. "Thank you for bringing her to me. Take –" she groaned, holding her shoulder, which had started to return to it's sickly state. "Take anything you want from the ship. Anything you may want or need. So long as you promise to bring us to Berk."
"I've already promised Snowdrop that courtesy," Eret replied. "We'll pillage this poor excuse of a boat and be on our way."
Ruffnut frowned. "Don't make fun of this ship," she said quietly. Eret looked up for a moment before pursing his lips and giving a small nod. "And if you or any of your men touch me, I'm turning them into a girl."
"I'll let them know," was the simple response.
Eret and his men traded places with Ruffnut and Snowdrop. They spent an hour salvaging whatever they could while Snowdrop and Ruffnut cuddled in the corner of the ship, away from the trap, with Stormfly wrapped around them protectively. Ruffnut looked up to the ship that had kept her safe, and she nodded towards it thankfully.
"How did you escape?" Snowdrop asked, looking up at her from under the furs. Ruffnut looked down at her and smiled weakly.
"I pretended to be Astrid," she murmured. "They were going to kill her, so I pretended to be her."
"But you're not dead!" Snowdrop argued.
"I know. I was saved by Hiccup's mum."
Snowdrop's tiny mouth feel open. "What?!"
"Mhmm. I have to tell Hiccup so they can go after her. But… I don't know where I came from."
"That's okay," Snowdrop said, dropping down to the faintest of whispers. "Eret knows. He works for Dagur. And if we can get him back to Berk, we can make him tell us where he is."