Being prisoner isn't fun. But being held prisoner by outcasts in the middle of a storming ocean in a creaky, run-down boat definitely isn't fun.
Pache was in the boat's dungeon. One of her wrists had a chain attached to the floor. She looked around her environment and noticed there was a guard outside. Luckily, he was sleeping. Her being a little girl she wasn't heavily locked up. Alvin didn't listen about her being a big girl. Pache was counting on that in case she was betrayed.
"Always have a spare plan. You never know who you can trust. For example, your father and I have spare prosthetics just in case ours break." Her uncle had warned her. That was the day she had been given her red headband. IT doesn't look like anything special, except on the inside of it was a scale from Toothless, Stormfly, Striker, and a recently added one from Fiendish. Those were the dragons' scales. The other two were from the back of her and her father's neck, where their birthmarks were. Oddly, it grew back.
Each scale filled her with hope, knowing her family was with her in some way. It also reminded her of who her family was. And who she was. She was Treacherous.
The guard was so deep in his sleep that his snoring sounded like a war horn. She crept over to him silent as a mouse, despite the creaky floor boards, and took the key to open the cell. Remembering the chain, she slipped her small wrists right out of it. They were too big to actually fit her.
Then, she opened the door and knocked the guard out. She didn't want him waking up. Creeping on to the deck, she heard a familiar roar and turned her head to the center of the ship. Striker was tied to the mast.
She found her bag and weapons in a barrel and silently walked over to her dragon. Reaching into it, she brought out a dagger and began picking at the locks. In the middle of it, she felt a hand grab her by the scruff of her shirt collar and lift her up.
"What do you think you're doing lass?"
She struggled to get out of his grasp. "Let me GO." she shouted and kicked him in the groin. He released her but then another man picked her up.
"Slippery little devil aren't you?" Alvin asked. "We'll take care of that."
So, now she has chains on both of her wrists, and two guards guarding her. But, Outcasts never learn and they were both asleep. Like last time, she took the key that opened her cell, and knocked the guards unconscious. The shackles however weren't going to slip off like last time.
Luckily, she hid a dagger in her sleeve when she kicked the outcast in the nuts. She knew when she was caught, she wasn't going to escape… yet. She picked at the locks which came off, and exited.
And, just like last time she was caught freeing Striker.
Now, she had chains on her wrists, and one of her ankles and two awake guards. So, she took out a bobby pin from her hair and picked the locks. Since the guards were alert she couldn't knock them out as easily, so this time she pulled at a loose board on the ceiling and slipped through that.
Sadly, she landed right smack in the bathroom where luckily nobody was.
"Thank Thor and all the other gods that exist." She praised. Until a man walked in and locked her up again. "Curse Loki."
Now, she had chains on her wrists, ankles, and a guard inside her cell, and three outside.
"Hi." She said to the man staring at her. When he didn't reply, she tried again. "Hi." No answer. "Hi." An irritated frown appeared in his face. She gave an evil smile. "Hihihihihihihihihihihijihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihhihhihhihihihiihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihhihhihhihihihiihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihhihhihhihihihiihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihhihhihhihihihiihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihhihhihhihihihiihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihhihhihhihihihiihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihhihhihhihihihiihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihhihhihhihihihiihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihhihhihhihihihiihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihhihhihhihihihiihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihi…" It continued for 2and a half hours.
"GAAAH, SHUT UP YOU LITTLE HALF-BRAINED, ANNOYING, TERRIBLE, SHE-DEMON, TREACHEROUS LITTLE CHILD!" The guard finally snapped. All of them had their eyes shut tight and their ears covered. There was a moment of silence. Smiling, and thinking he'd won, the guard opened his eyes.
Only to find the so called "she-demon" was gone.
"What the…?" BAM. He was knocked out, as were all the other guards.
"This time, this time for sure." Pache said as she ran out on the deck and hurriedly tried to release Striker. But, when the chain was unlocked it triggered off a trap which caused her to be pinned down by a net.
"I swear girl, you're getting on my last nerve." Alvin scowled.
"You have a nerve? I thought you were just made of stupidity." She smiled. It was short lived as the giant man came over, took her out of the net, and punched her, knocking her back five feet. She felt her cheek which would leave a big bruise.
"Maybe that'll teach you some respect." He spat.
The skrill behind him was going nuts, trying to charge and kill him, but failing due to the chains. He turned to all of his crew members. "I want half of you guarding her cell. Every part of her that can be chained shall be. If you find any loose board, or anything on her she can escape with, fix it. If she attempts to escape, you have my permission to teach her a lesson." He turned to her as if to prove his point. Her cheek was already purple, and he smiled due to her speechlessness, and the tears in her bright, green-blue eyes.
They did as he said, and they did it well. She was chained to the wall, floor, ceiling, and bars. The cuffs were on her neck, ankles, wrist, and neck. Then, her feet and hands had cuffs that surrounded them wholly. It appeared there was no way to escape.
But there was one last strategy she could use.
"It's in these situations my father says, Go hard, or go home." She whispered so nobody could hear. Then, she faked trying to escape by wiggling around and kicking one of the guards in the shin. She couldn't move her shackles enough to kick him in the place she wished, so the shin would have to do.
"Stupid little girl, you need to listen." The guard said. He took out a knife and was going to cut her a little.
"NO!" She resisted and kicked him again, and again. She struggled in his grasp, making him angrier and shouted in his face. In order for her plan to work she needed the torture to hurt. After a few more minutes, the guard had her pinned.
"Shouldn't've done that ya little brat." He snickered. "I've been waiting to do this ever since you first said hi." Pace braced herself. This was going to hurt. He took the knife and cut three slash marks across her eye, making it look as if it was made by a dragon's talons. The pain hurt indescribably and she screamed like a banshee. "Now, it'll match your bloody skrill." He said, and left.
She was left crying, and with blood around her eye. Instead of normal, salt water tears, these tears left burnt marks on her skin. They were acid.
She let the tears roll down his cheek and into the locks, which burned and clicked open. The metal melted and when it cooled due to the cold air, molded to the floor. They could never be used again if they ever tried to tie her up. They were too misshapen.
One of her eyes were too bloody to see through, and the other was burning.
Many years ago, when Pache was 2 she accidentally ran into dragon fire, thinking it'd be safe because all the other hatchlings did it. It was a bad idea. Dragon fire burns hotter than other fire around, and burns longer too. The pain was excruciating, and her arm might've had to be amputated if not for the healer in Xaterra. She knew the only way to heal a burn as bad as Pache's was with the blood of the same beast that caused the incident.
So, they brought out a teenage skrill with red markings on her wings. She was unaware of the young girl playing around and accidentally burned her. The healer took out a needle and injected the skrill's blood into Pache's. Her whole arm healed almost instantaneously, and due to the fact that they share each other's blood, Pache and the skrill took a liking to each other and became riders. Toothless was of course a little overprotective from then on, and made sure the skrill was watched.
When Pache was 4, her first vision happened. Nobody could calm her down. And, the worst part happened. The screaming. Because that's when the tears rolled down, and burned her face, making her scream even more. It happened a couple more times during the first month of her vision. The skrill remembered something about her young friend. She loved lightning and thunder.
So, she flew outside and made some. The noise rattled to Pache's room, and the flashes creating white reflections throughout the tunnels. She immediately fell asleep, and the visions stopped. The next morning, the skrill was named Dreamstriker.
And now the poor beast was tied to a mast, listening to her best friend scream.
"NOO!" I woke with a start. I've had nightmares before, but this was terrifying and making me shake where I lay. How I hope it's not true. It was just a nightmare after all, even though it seemed so real.
"I'll be back soon, okay hun?" Hiccup said to his daughter.
"Okay Daddy." She said and gave him a goodbye kiss on the cheek. Her father climbed on his Toothless, and flew off. But, he couldn't help but look back, and when he did he saw a fleet of outcasts attacking the nest.
And, he saw Pache getting dragged out and onto the ship. "C'mon bud, we gotta help." He tried to say, but no words came out, and Toothless was gone. Hiccup was falling to an icy water death. But, as he looked on the ship, he saw Toothless and Dreamstriker tied to the mast, dead, and Pache being beaten by Alvin, her acid-teared face and screams haunting his head. "NOOOO!"
And then the nightmare ended. He had always worried about Pache being out there. She was only 5 after all, even though she could be as slippery and Treacherous as a grown, master assassin.
The image of Toothless and Striker dead, and Pache being beaten up haunted his eyes. The screaming, echoing through his mind.
What if… NO, I mustn't think think that way, she'll be fine. She'll be fine. Hiccup kept repeating the thought in his head, and when he felt more confident in her, fell back asleep.
Only to be waken up five minutes later with a splash of water.
"Here's your food, devil." A viking threw his food on the ground, but it had a plate so it wasn't coated in dirt.
"Hey Oark the Obnoxious." Hiccup said and flipped the bottom part of his mask up to eat.
"H...how.."
"You know, this reminds me of the time you were in prison. Felt terrible, didn't it? But, unlike me you had someone to help you out. What was his name again… ah yes, I remember. Hiccup." It was true. When Oark was in prison for not paying a debt, Hiccup had brought him food and water until his sentence was lived out. It was for about two years Oark would never tell anyone, but he liked the boy's presence. Being in prison actually seemed enjoyable.
But, when he got out he ignored the young man completely, and like the rest of the village, the insults at him every once in awhile.
"Ever remember what you called him afterwards? Useless, No good, Obnoxious. Then again, was he really? Oh, what am I saying, of course he was. After all you insisted on it." Oark was speechless.
"You shouldn't tell lies, Oark." He scolded.
Well, after peeing his pants, Oark ran off and told his chief the same thing Snotlout did yesterday.
"Oark, we have a trial tomorrow. It'll be good to have another witness to put this man down. Now, go change your pants and move along. Alright?"
"Yes Stoick." He said and walked back to his house.
Stoick sat in his big chair and a tear rolled down his cheek. "Oh, Hiccup. Where are you?"