Rated-T

Warnings

Abuse/torture

Some OOC-ness maybe

I might not get all of their talking entirely accurate so please bear with me

Things you need to know

Lydia speaking in Khuzdul

Disclaimer-I don't own the Hobbit or How To Train Your Dragon.

Here We Stand United

Chapter 3

"You really connected with that Scauldron, Lydia," Hiccup said when he was sure that Alvin and his goons had left. He was trying to be encouraging, but failing miserably. Their situation was really starting to sink in, and he was slowly losing hope. They'd all been dumped in separate cages this time, but despite that, Lydia didn't hear a word Hiccup had said and might as well have been millions of miles away. She was too busy thinking.

Her time here was up. Alvin now knew she could adapt to anything he threw at her, and he knew she knew some Ereborian customs. It was only a matter of time before the pieces of the puzzle fell into place in his mind, and she needed to be long gone by the time that happened. The last thing she needed was for Alvin to find out her full title and take advantage of her heritage.

So, she put all the training Nori had ever given her to use, her mind working as fast as it could to piece together all the information she'd observed during that one trip above ground and then back below.

They were in pretty deep, as far as she could tell, so that put her at a distinct disadvantage, considering she could easily be caught in that amount of time. From what little she knew of the island when she was washed ashore and before she had had a scuffle with the Outcasts, there was no other land for miles, and the ships were closely guarded. Dragon attacks happened often, but most of the Outcasts were down right stupid. This was to her advantage considering the dumbest of them all had been entrusted with the keys to all the cells. However, this likely also meant that he was the strongest right after Alvin himself. If she could just get to the Scauldron, though...

"Listen, I have a plan, but you have to trust me," Lydia said quickly as she suddenly spun back towards the Viking teen, startling him. He'd been concerned for a moment, wondering if something was wrong for her, and had stepped forward to get her attention when she spun around, which was why he fell back a few steps before regaining his balance. Hiccup nodded mutely so Lydia continued, "I need Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout to keep the guard with the keys distracted when they come with the food. I'll slide out to get to the Scauldron and fly off to get help. You just have to tell me which way I'm going to get to Berk and who I'm looking for."

Hiccup hesitated. He had known Lydia for barely a week, and also knew next to nothing about her. How could he just trust her like that? Lydia quickly lost patience with the intelligent teen.

"You're with me or you're against me. Either way I will be attempting this escape because there isn't much time left."

Hiccup made his decision quickly after that. "Berk is a few miles North of here. It's a large island surrounded by slightly smaller islands and it's the only one inhabited around here. Impossible to miss. You're looking for my dad, Stoic the Vast. Tell him you know me, and please, tell him your full title, not this half-thing you gave us." Lydia looked momentarily surprised that Hiccup had caught on to that, but then she smirked. So, his intelligence was higher than she thought. It was something to be appreciated when all of her family thought with their muscles.

"Very well, Hiccup, and thank you."

*THIS IS A PAGE BREAK*

It wasn't too much later that Alvin's goon came down with the slop they called food. Even though it had probably only been a few hours, the air in the dungeon was tense as everyone prepared for the escape. Lydia was coiled tensely, but she did not let it show. If her apprehension showed, the guard would get suspicious. She kind of wished she had taken Nori up on his offer of carrying around one of her lock picks, though. It would make things slightly easier as in she wouldn't have to steal the keys to be freed.

"Hey ugly! You gonna let us out yet?" Ruffnut jeered, a nasty look on her face as she glared at the idiot.

"Uh..."

"Your uglier face is confusing him!" Tuffnut shouted to his twin, enraging her. The two flung themselves against their cages to fight, but unfortunately for them and fortunately for everyone else, Snotlout's was in between theirs.

"I demand that you either give me a new cell or put these two in the same one!" Snotlout shrieked, ducking away from their flailing limbs as they screeched and roared at each other. The ruckus they were causing successfully distracted the guard, and as he walked past Lydia's cell to take care of all the noise, Lydia's hand shot out and snatched the key ring from his belt loop.

"Yes!"

The Ereborian quickly set to work, twisting her arm through the bars to fiddle with the lock. Alvin's dumb guard was quickly getting the noise level under control and it was only a matter of seconds before he turned around and saw her trying to unlock her cage. He'd successfully hit Tuffnut upside the head to shut him up, and was turning to Ruffnut and Snotlout, who were now shouting at each other to keep his attention.

Five...

Snotlout received a hard punch to the face, causing him to shriek some more.

Four...

Only when he got hit a few more times did he finally shut up and fall back to sit against the wall of his cage and sulk. Ruffnut kept taunting Alvin's left hand man as he turned to her.

Three...

Ruffnut was clearly smarter than her brother, Snotlout, and Alvin's goon, because she successfully avoided all of his attacks while still keeping his attention on her. However, her luck quickly ran out as the man managed to fit his beefy arm through the bars and grab her by the throat.

Two...

Hiccup and Astrid watched worriedly as Ruffnut's struggles became weaker and Lydia kept trying to find the right key for the lock, down to her last few keys. The man finally flung Ruffnut to the ground and started to turn back towards the other teens. Time seemed to stop

One...CLICK.

"Gotcha!"

Just as the man turned back around, Lydia was free, and she flung the gate wide before lunging towards him, silent like Nori but using tactics Dwalin had taught her. Just as the idiot Outcast turned back around, the Ereborian slammed into him. Since he was caught off guard, her momentum managed to knock him back, and she heard a clang as his helmeted head bounced off the metal bars. She didn't stick around to see what happened next.

Her memory served her well as she weaved through the underground halls, and hearing no raised alarms, she could only assume the Viking teens had managed to keep the bumbling buffoon distracted. She was not about to waste this new advantage handed to her.

At the last corner, she paused and cautiously peered around into the next room. Grinning because the coast was clear, she sprinted to the only cage holding a Scauldron, and the dragon looked at her curiously as she began fumbling with the many keys again.

"Hey...hey boy, you remember me, right? Whaddya say we get out of here, huh?" Lydia murmured, smiling to herself as the fourth key she tried turned out to be the right one and the gate to the dragon's cage swung open. The Scauldron lumbered out, spreading its massive wings as it did so and giving her a reptilian smile before nudging her with its head. "Yeah glad to see you too, but let's get out of here."

Gently, she grabbed purchase on the Scauldron's scales and tugged it along with her, heading above ground. However, it seemed their luck had run out. Shouting started echoing through the caverns and Lydia shrieked as several fully armed Outcasts came into view, blocking the only exit she knew of. She was at a distinct disadvantage now. Suddenly, the Scauldron straightened up and hovered protectively over the Princess as it sprayed super-heated water at the Outcasts, causing them to scatter.

Next thing she knew, the dragon had gently picked her up by her shirt and tossed her onto its back, where she slid down its neck to be seated at the base. It spread its large wings and barreled its way out into the weak sunshine, spread its massive wings as wide as it could, and took to the air. With a few mighty strokes, they were lifted high into the air and out of Alvin's range.

Lydia smiled as she turned the Scauldron Northward and headed for Berk.

And, chapter 3! It was the longest chapter so far, with some action there! What did you all think?

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