"You know, if we had taken one of the airships, we would have been there already," Kara groaned. Day two of their journey and it was raining, it was wet and cold and miserable and she was already over this rescue attempt. If Charlie couldn't murder a bunch of elves, then what good was she.
Santana glanced down at Kara who was struggling to keep up with Hiccup on her horse, and she shrugs her shoulders. "I don't fly, and they'd see a ship coming."
"Not one of the smaller vessels," Kara muttered. "They wouldn't see us coming, I mean we wouldn't have been able to take Hiccup, but we could have easily set him free and let him find Charlie on his own. That was an option. We should have gone with that option. I mean how embarrassing is it that your mate can't murder a bunch of elves?"
Santana tilted her head, "Did you tell your mate that you were off to murder a bunch of elves?"
"Lena? No, she would have told me to sit down and let the Agron Imperial family handle it. I left a note."
"I imagine it will be embarrassing for you when Lena murders you."
Kara snorted, "Lena isn't going to murder me, we're past that part of our relationship. But if she does, I'll die happy at the fact that I had to rescue my dumb friend from Elves. Plus I might get to burn down the Elven forest, so they'll sing songs about me."
"We're not burning down the Elven forest."
"Of course we are! If we start a small fire, I mean Hiccup just needs to hiccup and we'll get a small blaze, they'll be all distracted trying to put it out, and we sneak in grab her and then murder the Elven royal family and take over. No more sibling fucking."
Santana groans, "We're trying to avoid a war, and if we burn down their forest where are all the elves going to go?"
"I don't see how any of that is our problem, they kidnapped a princess! If that isn't cause for war I don't know what is. You can't just go around kidnapping heads of state Santana, it will lead to chaos. Besides, the Beastkin have a stake in a potential war. You only came to the Agron kingdom because one of your Primes was found as a trophy for a nobleman. Something that was dealt with swiftly once they found out and they sent the body back. It was probably the elves."
"The Elves and the Beastkin have never had a problem with one another, we both respect nature—"
"The Beastkin aren't tree fuckers Santana—"
"Neither are the elves, and the only reason you have a problem with them is because they are talented craftsmen just like the dwarves are."
Kara let out a snort of derision, "Anything that can be burnt easily isn't good craftsmanship. None of it is durable, like the mountain dwarven made products endure. Just like our memories, the Elves and the Beastkin were enemies once. That was until the Empire arrived, at which point you became allies because when the Empire wants to murder everyone that isn't human and enslave them, it made sense. No one likes the Empire, but if the Draconic Kingdom and the Agron Kingdom are not going to fight them then the dwarves aren't going to go to war with them either."
"They enslave dwarves?"
"They enslave anyone that isn't human, dwarves aren't human, but we're human enough that they generally don't provoke us. Plus attacking us would cause the alliance that we have with the Agron Kingdom to come into effect. At some point we will have to deal with them, but not at this moment."
Santana frowns at this, Sansa had suggested that she push Charlie to deal with the Empire sooner rather than later, but Charlie would have to go off to war and she didn't want that. They hadn't even consummated their marriage, and she wasn't even sure if the wedding ceremony had been completed. "I—" Before she can finish that thought Hiccup's head snaps up and he turns his head, having caught the scent of something. "Whoa, we need to—"
Before Santana can finish her thought, Hiccup takes off in the wrong direction, picking up speed as he does, and all Santana can do is hold on for dear life. He's practically shoving down trees before he comes to a stop in a clearing skidding to a halt as he lets out a roar that is deafening. Santana flinched but the smell hit her first, blood and death. She'd smelt it before, she quickly raises her head, as a monster that was nearly the size of Hiccup roars back. Santana stares for a moment the monster had torn through what appeared to be a bandit camp and was currently circling Hiccup whose tail was thumping excitedly.
The smart thing to do would be to take cover somewhere and hope that Hiccup could handle the monstrosity in front of her, but her body still ached from her injuries and shifting was still painful for her. Still she manages to wiggle herself free and lands hard on her feet, her ankle buckling under her weight. She lets out a cry of pain, which seems to distract Hiccup who turns to her to check on her.
The monster that had been circling sees the opening and immediately charges ramming into Hiccup who roars and turns snapping at it, as he's knocked off his feet.
Santana barely manages to scramble away, grimacing in pain at the weight that she had put on her foot, this wasn't good at all. She needed to clear the area, it was what she was supposed to do when two predators were going at each other and she didn't want Hiccup to get hurt because of her.
"What the fuck is a cockatrice doing this far into Argon territory?"
Santana turns as she's grabbed by Kara who pulls her onto her horse in a quick motion as they clear the area giving Hiccup some space. "What?"
"That's a cockatrice, they're found in the badlands, someone should have been notified that there was a breach in the wall," Kara frowned. It was possible that no one had given it much thought since Charlie usually looked into it every few months, but something had clearly broken down because creatures from the badlands were supposed to stay in the badlands. With Charlie gone, there was a real threat that the Kingdom could be overrun if they didn't send the right troops.
"Will Hiccup be okay?"
"It's a giant lizard chicken, he'll be fine. But if monsters from the badlands have crossed the barrier, then we're going to need to get moving fast, or our journey just got a lot more difficult. Especially with your injuries."
"I'm fine—"
"You're really not. It would be nice if Hiccup remembered your injuries, but he probably won't Also, if you die, even if I do rescue Charlie she's going to try and murder me," Kara interrupts, she really didn't have the patience for this. She should just go back and steal a small airship.
Before Santana can say anything, Hiccup manages to grab the cockatrice by the throat and begins to shake it violently, she can hear the crack of bones before he spots them and heads over dragging the carcass of the monster with him, before dropping it in front of her.
"You know we can't eat that," Kara said looking at Hiccup. "We can't, it's monster meat we'll get horribly sick," Kara tells Santana.
"I know not to eat monsters, but he's just looking to be praised," Santana snapped at Kara, getting annoyed. She knew how to hunt, she knew how to take care of herself and she knew what she could and couldn't eat. She reaches up and scratches Hiccup's scales and she smiles as his tail thumps. "You did an amazing job, but next time give me a bit of warning and put me down gently so I don't slow you down."
Hiccup lets out a small puff of smoke at Kara but immediately drags his kill away so he can begin to eat.
"Might as well make camp here, we're not going to move until he's finished, and it's wet and raining—we should have taken an airship!" Kara groaned.