Here's chapter 5! thank you to all my lovely reviewers and followers!
Ch. 5: Of Rescued Friends and Altered Plans
Gothel watched lazily as Vikings went about their business around her. She knew good things came to those who waited, had she not used the phrase multiple times before? But right now waiting seemed agonizing. It had been four months since the Boogeyman had given her a physical form, saving her from wandering the space between earth and the after-life forever. Still, she hungered for revenge, she wanted to use her new form and all it's power to make Rapunzel's life crumble around her.
But she had to stick to the plan, and the first real part of the plan had yet to get underway. It was infuriating! But she knew that soon enough she would have the satisfaction of ripping Rapunzel's perfect little world out from under her tiny feet. But now she had to be content with overseeing her little rabble of idiot Vikings. Gothel placed a hand on her head and massaged her temples; she had thought the ruffians and thugs were idiots, but those singing and dancing morons looked intelligent next to these Vikings! These men were bloodthirsty and savage to be sure, but that's all they were. The old woman was sure that collectively they only had half a functional brain at best.
Alvin was the most intelligent among them, she assumed that was part of how he got the position as chief. But even he thought more with his fists; he was still more on the idiot side, in her opinion. But she didn't mind partnering with idiots most of the time, even the densest muscle-head tended to recognize a superior intelligence and follow it, as long as that higher intelligence was also fearsome, and she was. That was what she needed, muscle-brained savages who will follow her every command without question.
Soon enough the plan would be put into action, and the world of the one she hated most would fall into chaos. There was nothing left now, but to wait.
"After we find Hiccup we'll go out the way we came, grab Toothless and head right back here to figure out our next move." Jack finished explaining the plan to the other four, Toothless was grumbling quietly, not happy with his part in Jack's plan. The other three were looking hopeful, but skeptical at the same time.
"Ya make it sound like it's goin' ta be tha' easy." Merida said, "An' why can't we use a snow-globe ta open a portal back 'ere when we find 'im?"
"We only have a limited supply of them, and I'd like to save them as much as possible. I'm going to bring one, but we'll use it only if we have no other escape options." Jack answered.
"Alright," Astrid stood up, "are we ready?"
"As ready as we'll ever be," Jack said as the other's stood as well. "Let's go get our friend back." Toothless growled in agreement as Astrid ran and jumped into the saddle, positioning her foot into the tail pedal. Rapunzel jumped on behind her, wrapping her arms around the Viking's waist and Merida climbed on after her. It was a tight fit and Toothless had never carried so many people, but he had carried Stoick and that man weighed more than all three girls combined. Jack had offered to carry someone, but Astrid insisted that Toothless would be fine, and it would be easier for everyone.
Once everyone was situated, they took off toward the island, flying close to the water to try and keep cover incase there were guards patrolling the shores. Jack flew slightly ahead; he was harder to spot and could stop the others easily at the first sign of trouble. Jack looked out to the western horizon and saw faint ships in the distance, the fleet Astrid had warned them about, less than a day out. They had to pull this off today. They were out of time.
Jack flew a little higher and scoured the shore with his eyes. He didn't see anyone, but he still motioned for the others to be cautious. They landed softly on the edge of the island, but the girls did not dismount Toothless, they wanted to be sure everything was safe first.
Toothless sniffed the air and Jack darted quickly but cautiously through the rocky outcroppings. When Toothless visibly relaxed, Astrid knew it was safe, Jack returned shortly afterwards to confirm it.
"No one nearby," he said quietly, "just like yesterday." The girls dismounted and Jack looked at Toothless. "Now remember, wait here for us, don't move unless you hear us call you or if we aren't back within the next hour." Toothless growled but nodded, he understood that it would be easier for them to sneak in and out without him, but he still didn't like it. The large dragon locked eyes with Astrid, and silently, she promised to bring back the boy they both loved most in the world.
"Stay safe, and keep out of sight," Rapunzel said to him as they started off. She held her frying pan in one hand, ready with it incase she needed to use it. Likewise Astrid had taken out her axe and Merida held her bow, ready to notch and fire an arrow at a moments notice.
Jack took them through the maze of rocks, deeper and deeper into the island. Finally they happened upon a cave, Jack motioned them to wait as he slipped inside to check it out.
"I don' like this." Merida whispered, "we havn' seen a single soul, it shouldn' be this easy."
"They've been hiding expertly," Astrid whispered back, "even if we had searched the island, we would never have found anyone. They are on the offensive, that's why we haven't seen them."
"But once in those caves we have to assume they'll be everywhere." Rapunzel said. Jack appeared from the mouth of the cave and motioned for them to stay quiet.
"Follow me, and keep close to the right wall of the cave." He instructed. "When we come up to the first right, stay down and wait, there's a ledge we can crawl on that should keep us from being seen, but I'll have to lift you each onto it one by one." They nodded him and followed him into the dark cave. Each stayed close to the right wall as they inched along, being very cautious not to make any sound and constantly keeping an ear out for any outcasts. They reached the first turn without a hitch, and Jack began to carry them up to a ledge that should easily conceal them as they continued. Jack had gotten Rapunzel up and was trying to figure out the best way to lift Asrtid without hurting himself on her spiked armor when they saw a faint glow and heard large footsteps coming around the corner.
Jack quickly grabbed the Viking girl and flew her up to the ledge. Astrid scrambled to get herself safely on the precipice so Jack could get Merida, who had notched an arrow in her bow and was watching the approaching light with cold eyes. Once Astrid was safe Jack flew down and grabbed the Scottish princess around the waist, hoisting her up to the ledge right as the man came around the corner. None of them moved or breathed for fear of alerting the man to their presence. But he walked by them, having not heard a thing.
When he was out of sight and they could no longer hear his footsteps, they let out a collective sigh of relief. "It's only going to get worse as we move further in." Jack whispered to the others. "We have to be very cautious." They began to crawl along the ledge, still listening for any sign of the Vikings.
As they crept along, they encountered more and more Vikings, but the ledge kept them well concealed. The problem came when the ledge ended, and they had to go down a tunnel that was guarded by three outcasts. Jack turned to the others, hoping one of them had a plan.
"Even if we try and make a noise over somewhere, I don't think they'd be stupid enough to all go and investigate at the same time." Astrid whispered.
"An' I don' think I could shoot all three of 'em before one of 'em raises an alarm." Merida said.
"Same with my ice," Jack muttered, "I could try, but there's no guarantee I'll get all of them, and leaving frozen or dead Vikings is a sure-fire way to alert others that something's wrong, and we don't want that."
They each quieted lost in thought before Rapunzel's eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh I'm such a dummy!" She exclaimed in a hushed voice, looking at the other's excitedly. "Before our last mission, Sandy gave me a pouch of his sleeping sand. We never actually had to use it, I still have the pouch in my bag!" She rummaged through her pack for a moment before pulling out a small black pouch with golden markings. "Ta-da!"
"Genius!" Jack exclaimed, "sleeping guards is not uncommon, and hopefully will keep our presence here a secret for a while longer." He then took the pouch and flew above the guards, sprinkling a bit on each Viking until they were nothing but a peaceful slumbering heap on the floor.
Astrid jumped off the ledge and rolled upon landing, the other's looked at her with a shocked expression, the ledge was exceptionally high. The Viking just shrugged, "Dragon riders need to be able to fall safely from long distances."
Jack got the other two down and they headed off quickly down the caves, Jack flying ahead and stopping the other's when there was a guard he needed to put to sleep. With the help of the sleeping sand, their progression moved much more quickly, and soon they neared the cell.
Before rounding the last corner, Jack stopped them and peered around it. He clenched his fists when he saw his friend, knowing it would be bad, but unprepared for just how bad. Then he took stock of the "guards", four nightmares surrounding the boy and fueling his fear. The sight made the ice spirit's blood boil.
He looked back at the other's, anxiously awaiting his orders. "Four nightmares," he told them, "and he's in a barred cell. I can weaken the lock with my ice and we each take out a nightmare. Hit hard and fast, we can't give them a chance to escape." The other's nodded and Jack counted to three.
When he hit the last number they burst around the corner, Jack hit the lock with a perfect shot and Rapunzel brought her frying pan down hard onto it. The lock shattered and the door swung open. Without missing a beat the four charged into the cell.
The princess of Corona hit one under the jaw, then swung again hitting it on the side of its face sending it to the ground. Without stopping she brought the utensil in an upward arc and brought it down hard, the creatures head dissolved and it was no more.
Jack froze his nightmare before swinging his staff at it. The creature shattered on impact. Astrid swung her axe, decapitating hers, and Merida shot the remaining nightmare through the eye. It dissolved and the arrow clattered on the ground.
There was no celebrating, however as they rushed toward the boy they had come to save, still strung up painfully by the arms and completely unconscious. Astrid reached him first, putting both hands on his face and calling his name as if it would wake him up. She could have cried when she felt his pulse, assuring her he was alive, but his breathing was painfully shallow, and she knew he didn't have much time left.
It was obvious how devastated the girl was, but Jack needed her out of the way so he could get Hiccup down. He nodded at Rapunzel, and as if reading his mind, she went and wrapped her arms around the distraught girl's shoulders, pulling her away from the boy. Jack froze the chains above Hiccup's wrist and nodded at Merida as he put his arms around his friend to catch him when he fell. Merida took Rapunzel's frying pan and smashed through the chain. Jack caught him without buckling even a bit after the catch with how light Hiccup was. He shot the others a horrified look.
Hiccup whimpered unconsciously in pain as Jack lowered him onto his stomach. Merida picked the locks of the chains that held his wrists and elbows. The bringer of winter saw evidence of the torture Alvin had put his friend through all over his body. It was littered with gashes and bruises and burns, at least, that was what he could see under all the blood, dirt and grime. Jack was furious.
Once Merida had gotten Hiccup's arms free, Jack rolled him onto his back and Astrid and Rapunzel rushed over. Astrid knelt beside his head and kissed the top, running her hand through his mangled, dirty hair and whispering promises of revenge to keep herself from crying. The brunette placed her hand on the Viking's shoulder in comfort, and looked at Hiccup with a mix of despair and anger.
"We weren't prepared for this," she said to Jack and Merida, "even if I get him conscious and healed enough to walk, he can't. His leg is gone." She gestured to the missing appendage. "And healing him is going to take time we don't have, I cannot heal people as fast as I could when I had my hair." Merida nodded, they knew that even after two years of practice, channeling the healing energy through her hands was a lot harder for Rapunzel then it had been when it had gone so naturally through her hair. "I do need to heal this, though," she pointed to a few of his bottom ribs that were sticking out grotesquely. "We can't move him with his ribs like this, it's a miracle they haven't punctured his lungs already, but they will if I don't heal them now." Jack nodded and the brunette proceeded to sing her song of healing, golden light emitting from her hands.
Astrid watched, fascinated as the ribs righted themselves and the broken skin wove back into itself, not even leaving a scar. After singing through the song twice, Rapunzel stopped and wiped her bangs out of her eyes. "Alright, now we need to leave, that took even longer then I was hoping."
Merida nodded, "she's right, we have ta get out, now. We didn' give the brutes enough sleeping sand ta keep 'em asleep for very long, we're running out of time!"
"I know! I know!" Jack exclaimed, "I just..." He looked down at the unconscious boy.
"I wan' ta rip the balls off o' e'ry outcast 'ere too," Merida lifted Jack's face to meet hers, "but tha' won' do us any good now, we have ta get 'im out of 'ere."
Jack nodded and went to lift Hiccup, but Astrid stopped him. "Let me!" She begged, but Jack shook his head.
"When we get to Toothless, you need to fly him and the other two, you worry about them, I've got him." Astrid looked upset, but nodded anyway. Jack scooped up the boy and they exited the cell and started toward the tunnel.
"An' just where do ya think you're goin' with me dragon conqueror?" They whirled around to see Alvin the Treacherous standing behind them, hand on the hilt of his sword.
Before anyone could think, Astrid let out a loud scream and charged Alvin, axe ready to lop off his head. She jumped up and brought it down to slice through his skull, but Alvin unsheathed his sword and blocked it before pushing her off. She flew back and skidded to a stop, when she got herself straightened again, she charged, swinging her axe at the large Viking chief. Alvin blocked her attack and went on the offensive, swinging his sword at her neck. She ducked down just in time and used her axe to trip her foe. He fell onto his back with an almighty crash. Without missing a beat she swung her axe hard toward his prone chest, but he rolled away not a second too soon. The Viking girl let out an unearthly scream and charged the man again, intending to kill.
Jack watched her with a sick fascination. Hiccup had told him that most Vikings had wicked tempers, especially when fighting, but the boy was always so calm and collected during battle, Jack wasn't sure how true that was. But now, watching Astrid fight Alvin, he knew a Viking was not someone you wanted to piss off. Her eyes promised death, all her strikes were to kill, in this state, Jack was sure she could hold off an army.
But their time was up! He could hear shouts through the hall Alvin had come through, they needed to leave. He nodded at Merida and Rapunzel, they nodded back. The red-head notched an arrow, and sent it flying at the outcast. Alvin saw it and stumbled back, enough of a distraction for Rapunzel to grab Astrid before she jumped to attack him again, and start towards the others.
"No!" Astrid shouted, struggling against the princess, but the brunette's grip was surprisingly strong. "No! Let me go! He needs to die! I need to kill him, please!"
"You're not helping Hiccup," she said firmly and the warrior stopped, suddenly aware of the situation. "We need to leave." She nodded and they ran towards the cave opening, dodging (or kicking, in Astrid and Merida's case) the guards who had begun to wake up. But a mob of outcasts and Alvin were hot on their trail, they didn't know if they'd make it to the shore.
Jack took a deep breath and shouted, "TOOTHLESS!"
Toothless watched the four humans head into the rocks, once they were out of sight, he lay down and let out a cooning noise. They had done this before, made him wait behind if they had to sneak into somewhere. Only, sometimes Hiccup stayed with him, and other times, the dragon knew Hiccup was safe.
This time, however, his little human was the one in trouble, and he was stuck waiting for the others to bring him back. It was infuriating for the dragon, he hated feeling so powerless, but he knew he had to wait; they didn't want to let these evil men know that they were here. Toothless understood why he had to stay, he understood the plan, he understood everything, but that didn't mean he liked it. He curled into a ball on the ground, just dozing, waiting for either them to return, or a signal to burst into action.
After almost an hour had passed, Toothless started to get antsy. He paced and glared at the ground, cursing in his dragon tongue at everything he saw, and at the men who had done this. He was a Nightfury! A most ferocious dragon who was now stuck waiting like a hatchling, still too weak to go off on raids and waiting for other dragons to bring back his meal. He shot a fire bolt at the ground in frustration. He had never felt so anxious before in his life.
His ears suddenly perked up as he heard the distinct sound of metal crashing into metal accompanied by shouts from his boy's mate. He did not wait for a signal; instead, he leapt up and sped towards the sound. It wasn't long after that he heard Jack call his name. He took a flying leap and forced his legs to move as fast as they could. Something had gone wrong and his rider could be in trouble, he had to move fast.
He sniffed the air and made a sharp left, catching the scent of his boy and his companions. He saw a dark cave opening, and heard the thundering sound of a stampede of people. He reached the mouth of the cave just as Jack and his team burst from it. Panting, Astrid leapt onto him and adjusted her foot in the stirrup as the other two girls climbed on. The dragon saw that Jack was carrying his human, and that had to be enough for now, because he could see their pursuers fast approaching.
Astrid, Rapunzel and Merida felt a ripple go through the dragon's body as he unleashed a barrage of plasma blasts into the cave. They heard the chaos as the Vikings scrambled to get away, heard the breakage of rock and screams as the people inside were either burned or crushed. Toothless was furious, and he was showing it.
"Toothless that's enough!" Astrid shouted. "We have to go!" Shooting one last blast into the cave, he took to the air, following Jack back to Cannibal Island.
Alvin roared in anger as the night fury shot blast after blast into the cave. He had seen the dragon and held back while his men surged the entrance, but he had known that the night fury would be vengeful. The chief had been right, of course. He watched as some of his men were blown back and others were crushed under the large rocks, but what was worse was that the boy was now gone, and he still didn't know how to train dragons! He grabbed the Viking in front of him by the scruff of his neck and shook him angrily, then through him into the wall, taking out two more men in the process.
"Curse them!" He cried! "And curse all of ye! Not a one of ye was able to stop 'em? You're all idiots! We're on the brink of startin' a war but you lot can't even defeat a rabble o' children!"
"They were cunning, Alvin, we ne-" the man never finished his sentence as the volatile Viking chief lopped off his head with a swing of his sword.
"Anyone else got any excuses?" All the men shook their heads ferociously. "Good, now clean this mess up! Get all the wounded fixed up an' get the ships ready!"
"Ships ready for-" a glare from the furious leader silenced the questioning lips. Alvin turned and headed down the dark corridors, wanting so much just to deal with rage as he always had, killing everything and everyone in his path. He knew that would be counter productive, though, he needed his men, and while it was okay to kill a few in the measures of instilling fear and keeping his position as chief, he couldn't just go on a killing rampage. He needed his men for the war.
Sighing gruffly, he turned down a deep, narrow corridor. He was getting used to the musty smell and the rats that constantly ran over his feet down in the dark. He reached a door at the end, but before he walked inside, a voice stopped him.
"What could she possibly do for you right now?" The purring voice of the Boogie man sounded behind him. "Right now you need to re-plan."
"'M stickin' to the plan," the large man growled. "I just need to find that boy and 'is rabble o' friends." Alvin said through gritted teeth. "An' a locator spell should do just that!"
"Yes because the boy was so easy to break last time." Pitch mocked. "Have you seen the horizon? Ships stretch along it's length, ships that belong to your allies!" His voice fluxed and waned in the most convincing of ways. Persuasion was an art he had long since mastered. "Why do you need these beasts? You have my nightmares, you're army, this new army, magic, what else do you need?" The thin black figure slithered around to step in Alvin's path. Calm golden eyes met a vengeful brown. "Go to war with Berk, if you do, the boy and his allies will come, and you can kill, capture, whatever you want. Even without dragons, you are too powerful to be stopped by Jack's team or the people of Berk."
Alvin stroked his beard thoughtfully, a hideous, sinister smile spread across his face. "You're right, I can't be stopped." He chuckled, "leave the boy an' 'is friends to their devices, me an' me men are going ta war."
Pitch's face broke into a sinister shadowed grin, and the rats in the dark scampered hurriedly around their feet.
One more chapter will mark the end of part one, but guess what? we're not even to the really good stuff yet, and I promise longer chapters filled with more content in parts two and three! Whoo
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