A/N: Wow a week has already passed? Jeez...
We headed for the smoke house first. The small building's roof had partially collapsed and embers still glowed menacingly on its wooden structure. I pressed my hand against the door and pushed it open, peeking inside. After making sure there were no dangers, we slipped inside, leaving the door open behind us.
"I'm surprised the dragons didn't completely clean this place out," I whispered, eyeing the hanging meat that dangled before me. Blu nodded in agreement, looking the variety of food over for any damage that made them unedible. She pulled a few off their hooks, throwing them to the side.
"How are we going to carry it all?" she asked, eyeing the amount of food. I turned, surveying the building for anything that could be used to carry the food back to our clearing. I grinned, stepping toward a dark corner of the smoke house.
"We'll use this," I said triumphantly, raising the abandoned fish basket up. Blu grinned, snatching the basket and beginning to pile the meat into it. She made an icky face at the fish and laughed.
"I know you don't like it, but it's still food and you'll appreciate it when you're starving." She sighed and put the smoked cod into the basket. A minute later, we were creeping through the village, feet moving toward the armory. I shifted the basket that now rested on my back and followed Blu further into the shadows.
"Damn," Blu growled, looking up at the charred armory. The roof had completely collapsed and a few fires still ate away at the previously sturdy building. "There's no way we're getting in there." I grunted in agreement. A glimmer of light out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and I turned. A fallen viking sprawled in the street, his body stained in lively crimson. Beside him, reflecting the glowing fires, was a sword. Blu followed my gaze and her eyes hardened. She stepped forward, ignoring my week calls for her to come back, and bent down, lifting the sword up and stepping away. Her shoulder were stiff and II could see the way her hands shook. I gently directed her away from the area, eager to leave myself.
"Is that it?" she asked, still tense.
"Food, a weapon, we can get water from the clearing's river…" I racked my brain for anything else. An idea popped into my head and I said, "Let's go to the docks." Blu caught on quickly and we turned, stepping hastily down the dirt path. A long case of wooden stairs led down to the docks and we practically fell down them in our haste to get to the bottom. We jumped down the last four stairs and I stumbled to a stop, looking up at the boats. The waves danced with the orange light glowing from the burning ships. All of them were aglow. I cursed and fisted my hair angrily.
"Why? What else could possibly go wrong?" I screeched, pacing furiously.
"Kat, we can still do this," Blu cried, halting my movement and pressing our foreheads together.
"How? We have no means to get off this Odin forsaken island!"
"The wood pile," she grinned. My eyes widened at her implication.
"Are you suggesting we build our own ship?"
"Yup," she chirped.
"But we don't know how to build a ship."
"We are two strong, independent women. We can figure it out," she responded.
"Well, we better get going then," I replied, grabbing her hand and sprinting up the stairs. We soared through the burning village, hearts pumped with hope. The twenty minute trip to the grotto seemed to take only three. We sprawled out on the grass, arms tucked underneath our heads as we stared up at the stars.
"We're actually doing it," Blu whispered, "we're actually leaving."
"Yup. Although, I wished we had a little bit of notice before we dived head first into escape." She chuckled a bit. I traced constellations with my eyes, relishing in the cool, smoke-free air.
"Kat?"
"Yeah?" Blu turned onto her side, capturing my gaze with her's.
"You have to promise me that no matter what happens, we'll never leave each other's sides," she said, as serious as she could be.
"I promise," I replied, lifting my finger up and crossing to over my heart. She relaxed slightly and beamed down at me, flopping back onto her back. I closed my eyes and smiled. No matter what, I'd still have my best friend at my side.
"Kat?" I grumbled, rolling over and frowning. "Kat, get up! Now!" Something jabbed me in the side and I yelped, squirming away. Blu, in all of her bed-headed glory, crouched in front of me, glaring daggers. I opened my mouth, snarky comment on the tip of my tongue, but I was cut off with a finger to the chest.
"Don't you dare," she hissed, hands fiddling with her hair. I laughed, getting to my feet and stretching. I moved to the stream, bending low to scoop up a hand full of cold water. I drank greedily then splashed some onto my neck, closing my eyes and sighing contentedly. Bluu tossed me a canteen that she had hidden in the clearing months ago and I filled it with the pure water. My gaze turned upward and I noted that it was around eight o'clock. With a sigh, I turned toward Kaycee, who was pulling what looked like smoked beef out of the basket. She tossed a slice to me and I bit into it, only now realizing that I was starving. We ate in silence, too focused on our roaring stomachs to talk. I wiped my mouth on the back of my hand and helped Blu to her feet.
"Alright, to the wood pile we go," I muttered, stepping toward the rope. The forest was a silent as it was yesterday, and I vaguely wondered where all the dragons from the raid had gone. The woodpile seemed unharmed, but I knew the amount that was there would never be enough to build what we needed. I turned, eyes landing on the fallen trees from the Timberjack's rampage. "Well, at least we wont have to chop down trees," I remarked. Blu followed my gaze and frowned.
"How will we cut it though?" she asked, stepping toward one of the fallen trees. I groaned loudly, tossing my head back.
"Seriously, this is so complicated." Blu rolled her eyes and looked down at the sword she had brought along.
"Would this work?" she wondered. I looked it over and took it into my hands.
"It might, but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't." She nodded, taking the sword back and turning to face the tree. I followed, pressing my hands against it's bark.
"Let's get to it." We took turns shaving off the bark. Blu started, pressing the sword horizontally to the surface of the tree and moving it forward in strong, slow strokes. The bark came off easily, the ocean's humidity making it moist and soft. The sun beat down on our backs and sweat dripped down our temples. We were half way done by the time noon came around.
"Let's take a break," I gasped, flopping onto the ground. Luckily, Blu was smart enough to bring two strips of smoked meat as lunch. We lounged against the woodpile, eating and chatting about whatever came to mind. I was about to comment on my ideas for the boat, when Blu held up her hand, eyes narrowed and body tense. She shifted, grabbing the sword at her side and my eyes widened.
"Where?" I asked, moving so that I was crouched and ready to move.
"I don't know," she whispered back, eyes moving quickly over our surroundings.
"There!" I shouted, but it was too late. The Timberjack sprang forward, long neck outstretched and mouth opened, showing of sharp teeth. I rolled to the side, hand flying to my waist. I cursed when my hand did not land on a rough hilt. The Timberjack turned away from me, sensing that I posed no threat, and instead turned on my red haired friend. She held the sword in front of her, eyes gleaming with hidden strength. The humongous dragon towered over her, growling and snapping. My heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest as I watched my closest friend face the beast. It leapt and so did I.
"Stop!" I shouted, arms stretched out before me and head turned to the side, waiting for the impact. I could hear Blu breathing in my ear and warm air on my hands. I opened one eye cautiously, surprised that I felt no pain. I turned to face forward slowly, other eye opening carefully. The Timberjack stood, its nose inches away from my shaking palms. I froze, body tensing and eyes bulging. It's narrowed amber eyes stared at my hands, unmoving. I stepped back and it hissed dangerously. I froze once more, and I heard Blu's breath hitch.
"Okay, let's just calm down," I whispered, speaking to myself more than to the dragon. It snorted and the unexpected gust of hot breath made me jump, which made the dragon stiffen up. "No, no, it's okay, I just wasn't expecting that!"
"Kat, what are you doing?" Blu hissed into my ear.
"Trying to keep anyone from dying," I replied softly, eyes never leaving the wild card before me. The dragon's slitted eyes flickered over to Blu who stood behind me, fists clenched around the sword. A rumbling snarl rose up in the beast's chest and my heart skipped a beat. It's eyes were stuck on the sword in Blu's hands and I nodded to myself.
"Blu I need you to do something for me," I knew I had her attention, "drop the sword."
"What?" she rasped.
"Trust me," I replied, willing her to do it. Nothing happened for what seemed like an eternity, but Blu did not disappoint me. The clang of metal hitting the ground startled me, but I made a conscious effort to hold still. The Timberjack's sharp eyes followed the sword and then flicked up to mine. It's eyes were hypnotizing. The yellow seemed to swirl and shift around the cat-like pupil. I mentally shook myself and focused in on the dragon's stiff shoulders.
"Alright, now we're unarmed," I told it, tilting my head toward the sword, "we are no threat to you and your territory." Please, Odin, may it understand me. It-wait Blu had told me it was he, hadn't she?-sniffed my palms, as if expecting an axe to leap from my hands. His forked tongue flicked out, coating my hand in saliva. I resisted the urge to squirm away and wipe my hands off on my pants. He looked expectant and I grew confused. "What?" a sudden thought dawned on me, "Please don't eat my hands." I could of sworn he rolled his eyes. He moved his head, going under my arm and toward Blu, who shied away. The Timberjack growled and she stopped. His snout nudged her side, sniffing and shifting her fur vest to the side.
Blu looked like she wanted to break out in giggles as his scales tickled her side in his search for...something. He seemed disappointed and pulled back, head before my palms once again.
"I don't understand," I told him, shaking my head in confusion. He licked my palms again and I resisted the urge to swat at him.
"Kat? I think he might be hungry," Blu whispered into my ear. I looked back up into his swirling eyes.
"Do you want...food?" I asked him cautiously. His eyes sparkled at the word "food." Dread filled me. "We, uh, don't have any here. We ate the stuff we brought." He did not look pleased. "B-but," I tried to placate him, "we have some back at our camp. We could bring you some food." He watched me suspiciously as I gestured in the direction of the clearing. "Would that work?" Before I could say anything else, his snout was against my side, pushing me to the side. I stumbled and I could hear Blu yelp as he did the same to her. He turned so that he was facing our direction. "What?" He pushed me again and I looked to Blu for an answer.
"I think he wants us to take him to the clearing," she said, moving to my side. I nodded and walked forward a few steps, Blu at my side. After we had moved a few feet, I could hear the heavy footfalls of the Timberjack's pursuit.
"Okay," I breathed, dragging the syllables out. Blu and I stuck close to each other, jumping when ever we would receive an impatient nudge from the dragon behind us. I would glance over occasionally, curious as to how he could fit in between the trees. His lower half would be up a tree, while he continued to move forward, and then he would shift so that he was on a different tree. Despite his immense size, he wound through the trees effortlessly. Having no limbs other than his head and tail seemed to make it easier for him to tuck his wings in and move through small spaces. I was pulled out of my thought as Blu nudged my side, pointing to the tree that marked our clearing.
We shuffled up to the rope and the Timberjack stopped, watching carefully. I tied the rope to Blu's waist and helped her lower herself to the ground. The dragon watched as I pulled the rope back up and wrapped it around my own waist. He followed me down the cliff, using his feet-like talons to anchor himself to the rocky surface. Blu stood off to the side, watching as I untied myself.
"Okay," I muttered. The fish basket was by the stream and I moved toward it, glancing behind me to make sure the dragon hadn't moved. I lifted the lid to the basket and reached inside, pulling out five smoked cods. Please be enough. The dragon's eyes zeroed in on the food in my hand and I could sense the hunger that radiated off of him. I slid closer to him and reached up, offering the fish. Even though he seemed to be starving, he took the time to sniff the offered food before snatching up every piece. My heart fell as he looked to me with unsated eyes.
"Blu," I gestured to the fish basket, never taking my eyes away from his.
"Kat, that's all the food we ha-"
"Either it's the food or us," I told her. Blu slumped in defeat and moved, dragging the fish basket toward me. I slid behind it, kicking it forward and letting the contents spill out. The dragon sniffed it. He looked up at me, then the food. It was gone in an instant. He licked his chops, looking slightly better, but I could still see the hunger in his eyes. He moved forward, until only his hind talons were left on the cliff. "No, no, we don't have anymore." I tried to move back, but his rumbling growl stopped me. He came close, too close, and sniffed my sides, looking for more. When he found nothing, he moved to Blu, checking her, but came back empty handed. He nudged me, seeming to say "Go get more."
"I will tomorrow," I told him, jumping everytime he touched me. He didn't like that. His movements became harsher and I stumbled, falling onto my back. Blu stepped forward, but I held up a hand to stop her. I looked up into the menacing, yet hypnotising eyes and whispered, "Let's make a deal." He stopped moving, focused on me. "I will bring you food every day, if you leave us be and let us take wood from you're forest." I reached a hand up, almost like I was expecting a handshake. His eyes followed my hand. "Do we have a deal...Dijiri?" The name was a spur of the moment idea, but I didn't regret it. It felt...right. His eyes looked me over, traveling from my knotted hair, to my dusty green tunic and ripped up black pants, to my worn out shoes, then back up to my outstretched hand. His head moved forward and my eyes shut, but the expected bight never happened. I opened both eyes and watched as he withdrew his snout from my palm. "Deal," his eyes said. Without any sort of warning, he lept into the air, and I gasped. His wings blocked out the sun and casted a shadow over the entire clearing and then some. Even after he was long gone, I didn't mover and neither did Blu.
"Did...did you just make a deal? With a dragon?" she asked breathlessly. I nodded, shutting my eyes against the suddenly boneless feeling. What did I get myself into?
A/N: Thank you for reading this chapter. Next week's chapter will be very late because I am going to be VERY busy, so I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Reviews are greatly appreciated and smothered with love! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and will come back for more! BYE :D