Chapter Ten
Hiccup stood against the wall, sweating crazily. Jack's staff clenched in his hands, he was technically praying to Thor almighty to give him strength. He gulped in a mouthful of air and whisked himself in front of the passageway to the prison. There was a long hallway with a chained doors lined across it. With only candlelight, Hiccup made out an archway that had stairs which led down to presumably the prisons underground. Otherwise, there was nobody present.
"I am going to die," Hiccup mumbled shakily, "Some great plan, Jack. 'Just lure them out of the prison! Me and Merida will be over here and you throw the keys over here when you get them and then we will free Annie! It's foolproof!'. Yeah, right."
Nervously, Hiccup tiptoed as quietly as he could, and kept in mind of his metal leg which scraped with a quiet shriek whenever it made contact with the stony ground. He had taken off his armour in favour of his light weight clothing that wouldn't hinder him when he would have to make the most heart plummeting, and dreadful run of his life.
As he reached the archway, Hiccup stared down at the swirled staircase that curved into a pit of blackness that even the candles against the stone walls were somehow extinguished. Cautiously, he lined himself against the wall, both hands flat against the cold stone and followed the trail of dimly lighted candles that were like guides in the dark. Somewhere down below, he could hear a loud snore that resonated like an earthquake in his heart. Almost gave him a heart-attack!
"Oh for crying -" he paused as he realised his voice was bouncing off the walls.
Just get it over and done with, Hiccup chanted in his mind before he proceeded into the mouth of the dungeons.
The descending tunnel wasn't as lengthy as Hiccup had anticipated and by the time he arrived at the archway of the prisons, he remained on the bottom two steps with what seemed to be streaks of perspiration stains down his face and neck. Leaning his head over as he peeked into the chamber, Hiccup found two guards - one sat cross-legged on the ground, his helmet hat half over his face as he breathed steadily in his slumber. The other sat by the table, his hand cupped his chin as he repeatedly slid off, only to wake again, then drop back into his tired daze. In between them was another archway. Really, the only things present in the chamber was that archway, the guards and the table with chess pieces scattered over it.
On the table was also a ring of keys.
Returning his sights on the half asleep guard, Hiccup waited patiently. It wasn't long till he heard the thud of the guard's head on the table, a light patter of chess pieces that rolled onto the floor and a jingle of the keys that also tumbled to the ground by the guard's feet.
Now.
Hiccup stealthily (as stealthily as he could) moved into view. Quietly, he bent over as he attempted to grab the keys - without getting remotely near the snoozing guard - with the staff, but the looped end of the staff was too large and inconvenient for the task. The guard on the floor snored like a pig and Hiccup took advantage of this as he, this time, swiftly used his metal leg, which scraped the ground, to pluck the keys into the air at his direction. Briskly, he snatched it and heaved a relieved sigh at his accomplishment.
As he looked up from the keys he hadn't expected a gush of warm, stinky breath batter his face. His heart fell into his stomach. Dared he glance at the face that taunted him, Hiccup pulled the keys closer to his chest. Judging by the close proximity of the chain mail, the guard had probably awoken - or simply wasn't asleep at all and Hiccup was fooled.
"So, them keys," the rough voice said slowly, "Planning to give 'em back?"
"What if I get caught?"
"Well, simple, you run to the bailey and Baby Tooth will lead you to us."
"Ah… About that…" Hiccup stuttered profusely, "I - I was just about to… to, um, borrow them. Yes! I'll give them back."
Hastily, Hiccup took a few steps back, about to sprint like a wild hare, but the hairy guard smirked down at him and yanked him back. He forced him still by taking control the staff. His stench filled breath smoked over Hiccup's face as he muttered, "It's not borrowing when you didn't get permission, kid."
Hiccup felt the guard lift him by the collar, his feet suspended feebly in the air while the man wrenched the keys from his hands, "For stealing," he said lowly as he threw a petrified Hiccup over his shoulder and took him into the darkness of the prisons.
Jack, I hate you, Hiccup thought bitterly.
"Where is he?"
Merida and Jack camouflaged under the shadow of a pile of metal pots by a wall in the bailey. It had been a while since Hiccup had made his trip into the prisons to retrieve the keys. So long that even Baby Tooth had returned from its trip with a positive note from Rapunzel. Well, Rapunzel decided to write in tiny writing on Baby Tooth's notebook, 'By the entrance, hair traps are ready'.
"Maybe he's taking his time?" Merida chimed, trying to be optimistic, "You know, he is disabled."
"But he has my staff!" Jack whined.
"Urgh, you were the one who said to give him that staff for extra protection!" Merida whispered in a scolding tone. A distressing thought crossed her mind, "What if he's in trouble?!"
A low agitated groan emitted from behind Jack's helmet, "Shit," he turned his head to Baby Tooth, who hovered in between them, "Go into the prisons to check on Hiccup."
Baby Tooth saluted them passionately and instantly whizzed off through the barred window. The moon began to slide off the dark sky and it gradually grew closer to the horizon. Merida tapped Jack on the shoulder, but when he didn't flinch, she punched him.
"F- What?!" Jack cursed, "Jeez you punch hard."
"You've got armour on, stop being a baby," Merida teased, "Even my brothers aren't as whiny as you."
"No wonder, with a sister like you," Jack countered, punching Merida's shoulder back.
Giggles slipped out from Merida's throat, which then made her purse her lips shut immediately, "If you had brothers like mine, you'd have to be like me," she clarified.
Jack went silent for a short while before he replied, "I went to the Bennett's today when I was looking to Rapunzel. Mrs Bennett said something about a sister-"
Merida shifted closer, "You have a sister? I've never seen her around!"
"Yeah, that's the thing. I don't have a sister. Well, I don't think I do… But ever since father died people have been mentioning things about this sister that I'm supposed to have," Jack clutched his head, "If I do have a sister… Why did I forget her?"
Thoughtfully, Merida placed her hand on Jack's knee, "Mother always told me, 'There's a reason behind everything, you just have to be patient. The truth will eventually unravel itself'," she mimicked with a high pitched tone which made Jack chuckled lightly, "Actually, she'd start talking about legends and magic before lecturing me."
"Sounds like you've got a pretty cool mother," Jack teased as he elbowed Merida affectionately.
"Oh please," Merida scoffed, "Wait until you get lectured. You'd start to think otherwise!"
Jack shook his head while he laughed, "At least you get lectured. My dad was too preoccupied with 'managing' the brothel to even take notice of me. I remember one time him and North had this massive falling out and now North's gone off somewhere."
"Who's North?"
"My godfather. Well, ex-godfather to be exact."
"Why'd he leave?"
"What's with the sudden interest with North?" Jack said, playfulness tinged his voice, before he lowered his tone, "I don't know. Bunnymund said it was over mum, but from what I remember, North's never been interested with mum in that way. Then again, my memory's kind of faulty - you know, the whole sister thing - so, I don't know what to think."
Feeling rather awkward as she was unable to comfort Jack, Merida twiddled her thumbs before she burst out, "I turned my mum into a bear."
Jack jolted, "What?"
"It happened a few years ago, I was going to be forced into marriage when I wasn't ready and so… I went to this witch and bought a spell which changed my mother."
"Witches? Whoa, what kind of land did you live in?!" Jack exclaimed, "That's epic! But you said you weren't ready for marriage, even turned your mum into a freakin' bear in the process, why did you marry Prince Gallach? Why not fight for what you want again?"
Merida slouched her back and pursed her lips, "Well, unlike the other tribes, the Gallach Kingdom wasn't, well, a tribe. It's a kingdom here with a King that has an army twice the size of ours. Also, DunBroch and Gallach weren't allies. It was only recently formed to protect us from war. Father told me that the Gallachs are brutal in battle and they had already destroyed an entire kingdom!" she clenched her fists, "What else was I supposed to do?"
Jack made a soft 'oh' sound before he retreated to his thoughts. Merida stretched out her legs as she got used to the heavy weight of the armour and leaned her head against the wall. She stared at the night sky and its dotted specks of white stars that were like lint scattered on a navy blue cloth. Tracing the constellations, Merida made out a crown, a extremely wonky hammer and a stick horse. The two of them were lulled by the soft swaying of the wind until Jack chuckled to himself.
"Just letting you know," Jack interjected lightly, "Mathias is a jerk."
"And how do you know that?" Merida snorted as she crossed her arms.
"Simple. If he wasn't I wouldn't be talking to a runaway princess," Jack smirked, waggling his eyebrows "And a fine one at that."
"Stop, you're starting to sound like Flynn Rider," Merida whacked him on the arm.
Jack made an expression of absolute horror at Merida's comment.
As the atmosphere grew lighter, Baby Tooth flew in with frantic chattering. With a scurry of notes, Baby Tooth struggled to process its thought coherently on the pages as it scribbled vigorously. Jack took off his helmet and furrowed his eyebrows as he read the messy notes on the notebook. Merida tapped him on the shoulder and she came face to face with Jack's terrified expression.
"Hiccup's in the prison," Jack shook Merida's shoulders, "My staff is in trouble!"
"Jack! Forget about your stupid staff, Hiccup, your friend is in danger. We need to keep our heads," Merida declared calmly, gripping Jack's arms before a bright idea clicked in her mind, "Why don't we just do what we're doing now?"
"Walk in there?"
"Aye, you'll do all the talking and they'll let us in," Merida planned out vaguely, "Come on! They think we're one of the higher soldiers, they'll let us in, I'm sure of it!"
Jack frowned as he pondered. He glanced up at Merida's determined face, "Has anyone ever told you, you're actually really cunning?"
"No…?"
"Well, you are," Jack laughed, "Just saying."
Rolling her eyes, Merida stood up and motioned to Baby Tooth, "Tell Rapunzel we're got this figured out."
Baby Tooth once again, saluted them and flew off over the castle wall. When Jack was finally up, Merida dragged him by the hand over to the prison passageway where they began following Hiccup's footsteps down from the archway.
The guard had thrown Hiccup in an already occupied cell. When he had landed with a loud clang on the hard ground he heard a girl gasp. When the cell door was locked shut, Hiccup groaned and pushed himself on all fours before kneeling on the prickly concrete. Observantly, he scanned the cell and found it domineering as well as rather dull and chilly. The only source of light available was the small barred window high up near the ceiling. Otherwise, everything else was like a stone box.
Thankfully, the guard had tossed the staff with him. The low breathing that was the only sound in the cell made Hiccup aim the staff at the figure that loomed inside the shadows. As he drew closer and closer, Hiccup relaxed his grip on the staff. In front of him was a girl around his age, if not, slightly older. She was tied up my chains against a metal pillar. Blue and purple blotches covered her face and collar bone. Her desperate eyes stared back at him.
"Annie?! Oh god," Hiccup exclaimed, "Does Artair know about this?"
Annette blinked before she broke out in crazed laughter, "I hope not. Actually, it is preferable if he will never know of this tragedy."
Hiccup rushed up to her and crouched down to face her, "No, don't be a pessimist like me."
She smiled, "You're not a pessimist. Sarcastic yes, but never a pessimist. Besides, bet you got yourself a lady friend now. Saved her from entrapment in this wretched castle and Uncle better be grateful for all the trouble I went through to obtain his beloved information. I expect a worthy reward from the old man."
It was decided. This Annette was weird and Hiccup obviously had no idea what to do in a situation where his beloved friend, who was so secluded from good people, in which she'd become a loony. Moreover, as Hiccup attempted to break the chains from the giant antique lock, Annette just whistled some sort of tune, a lullaby.
"What have they done to you?" Hiccup stressed as he tweaked with the lock and experimented opening it with the sharp end of the staff.
"Not they," Annette corrected, "She, 'Mother Gothel', she calls herself. Gave me some sort of drink which I obviously couldn't refuse due to my… inability to make a single movement."
"She drugged you?" Hiccup stopped as he realised Gothel was also part of this. Like, the woman was weird the moment she set foot in the village, but to do this?
"No, it hurts my egotistical sensibilities to say that she drugged me - such a disgusting word," Annette cried out dramatically, "She said she was getting bored so I was obligated to entertain her."
"Entertain…?"
"Something about fairies," Annette snorted loudly, "Jolly, silly, fairies out of everything she banters on about, she decides fairies is a good way of solving all her problems."
Hiccup remained silent and allowed Annette to ramble out of her drugged state. The lock buckled in his grasp and he bit his lip in annoyance as he swatted it down in frustration. Annette was still yapping on and on about Gothel's attempt to drug her and how she came to be in this condition that Hiccup eventually grew accustomed to it. With a compassionate glance, Hiccup cross his arms and decided to listen as he had nothing else to preoccupy himself with in a rusty prison cell.
"Did you know?" Annette sung, "There's this legend. Of a thief who stole a crown and was imprisoned here just like us?!"
Hiccup perked up at the mention of the story, "And he escaped through a secret exit didn't he?" he mumbled out loud, eyes moving side to side as if in deep thought, "A trapdoor…"
"Have you heard of the story?" Annette blinked curiously.
Maybe in this cell… Just maybe, Hiccup pondered frantically as he scanned the area. There was just stone walls and concrete flooring. No trapdoor to be seen. Quickly, Hiccup stood up and strolled about, tapped his foot on the floor hoping for a sound of rattling or clicking. His hands massaged the stones of the walls in hope that there would be a loose stone of some sort. Only tiny sprinkles of loose granite and dust fell from Hiccup's hand.
A quiet whisper. There was a quiet whisper in the cell. Stopping all motion, Hiccup was all ears. He glimpsed at Annette who was in a trance, and he presumed she hadn't heard the faint sound. It didn't make a syllable nor did it whisper in sentences. It sounded like a gasp of air, a hushed breath and it vibrated softly on the surfaces of the cell.
Slowly, Hiccup walked around and tried to pinpoint the location of the enigmatic voice. It crescendos by the barred door of the cell and Hiccup outstretched his arm to feel the invisible force that wooed him closer. Knelt down, he splayed his fingers out and felt something lukewarm flutter under his palm. He gasped and withdrew his hand.
Later, a choir of faint sighs emanated in the cell. Stretching his hand out once again, Hiccup hovered over the top of the invisible beings and noticed that they were forming a linear line outside the bars. He laid flat on his stomach and waved his hand from under the bars as he searched for the warm flutters. With the quiet whispers growing pesky in his ear, Hiccup realised they led away from the entrance archway and to the left where the end of the prison was.
"I really hope to god I'm not hallucinating," he muttered, and got off his stomach.
Light snoring interrupted the choir and gradually the whispers subsided. Hiccup turned to Annette, who was mumbling and snoring innocently about dusters, and sat himself next to her. Leaning against the metal pillar, his mind wandered aimlessly. Back and forth like a waltz as he too dozed off from over thinking and emotional stress. And in a black view, he could only hear boisterous and benevolent roaring.
Meanwhile, in their full suit of armour, Merida and Jack strode like rattling tins into the chamber where Hiccup unfortunately got caught. They pretended they were well trained soldiers. The hairy guard who was still awake was originally playing lone chess on the table, twirling the keys carelessly around his pork chop sized index finger. When he acknowledged their presence, Merida was not expecting a full fledged worship-like bow, and judging by the way Jack stood pridefully - he was bathing himself in it.
Merida rolled her eyes, and focused on the guard who approached Jack like an obsessed admirer. With two hands, he clasped onto Jack's metal one and shook it eagerly, eyes glittered. After that the guard coughed awkwardly, "Sir!" he straightened his poise and tried to mask a serious expression, "What a pleasure to have a high quality knight like you come to our, uh, dungeons!"
"We're here to free Miss. Annette," Jack confessed confidently which made Merida shoot her head at his direction in absolute shock.
The guard narrowed his eyes slightly, "By the orders of the King 'imself, Annette ain't allowed to leave. She's under, what's that word… Ah, that's right, interrogation."
"Then can we see her?" Jack tried again, this time with more valour.
"What are your connections with the wrench?" the guard questioned, and Merida could feel suspicion radiate from his aura, "You one of Mother Gothel's little fanatics?"
The name rung like an alarm. As the guard grew increasingly untrusting of them, Merida slipped up to the him and confronted him. It was ineffective as the guard was twice her size and resembled a bloated bear. However, Merida had encounter many bears in her short lifetime and she stuck her ground like roots. By this moment, the guard could sense 'intruder' from a mile away. Just as the big grubby hands were about to enclose on Merida's neck, Jack dashed past her, yanked off his helmet and like a blur threw it at the guard's skull as if it was merely a snowball fight.
Jack picked up the helmet again and pegged it at the slumbering guard on the floor. The guard yelped and then fell deep into, most likely, a coma. Without a second thought, Jack technically began stripping off the armour, which Merida blushed like a virgin over and spun around to also pulled off her helmet. Noticing Merida's inherent discomfort, Jack chuckled and pulled off the tunic he wore over the top of his sleeveless undershirt and teasingly chucked it over Merida's head which made her shriek.
Upon realising it was just a tunic, Merida turn around, death glared Jack, and stuck her tongue out childishly at him. In an attempt of revenge, Merida threw the tunic back at Jack and began slowly undoing the armour as well. Shamelessly, with Jack staring like a fish as Merida smirked. Much to his disappointment, Merida wore an undergarment that covered her top torso and Tooth's pair of lorikeet green trousers.
"Tease," Jack said snidely and pulled the tunic over his head.
"You started it," Merida countered.
After that, Jack knocked the guards out for the second time for caution's sake and grabbed the keys. They strolled into the prisons where Merida wrinkled up her nose at the foul stench of eleven month old urine and faeces as well as other bodily fluids that stained the occupied prison cells. With only the streams of restrained moonlight to guide them, Merida purposefully skimmed her surroundings.
Near the centre of the long path was a flickering blue Wisp. It vanished and then reappeared again slightly to the left in front of a cell. Suddenly, it disappeared entirely like a ghost. Merida ran over to where the Wisp was and peered into the darkness of the cell. She found a glint of a silver.
"Hiccup?" Merida called out quietly.
Voluminous screeching of Hiccup's metal leg replied and then Merida heard frantic scrambling. Hands grasping the bars, Merida yelled at Hiccup who limped out, cursing himself due to some fall he had whilst he was trying to get up.
"What took you guys so long?" Hiccup looked at Merida with unhappy eyes.
"Bonding," Jack interrupted, a smirk plastered on his face. He then turned to Hiccup, who was frowning, and he winked, "Hey, it's appropriate to communicate effectively with your allies."
Merida slapped Jack on the chest, "Shut up and unlock the door."
Hey there :). Holy crap it's a new year and I could've made a New Year's resolution, but alas, I probably wouldn't stick to them anyway :P. This chapter in all honesty was a little difficult to write as I'm not used to making full fledged rescue plans haha, and about Jack's turbulent family... Please don't hurt me. While I was writing I realised they'd be quite a few POVs to keep the story flowing. I hope you guys don't mind that. Anyway, off to writing the next chapter!
As always, thanks for reading ~