I'm back!
I give a special thanks to crazyguy408 and Superfan44 for being my most dedicated reviewers! Yaay!
Don't own anything.
-Mitti
- - § - -
Hiccup slowly waded into the chilled water, shivering as it crawled up his legs. Blizzard was already a few steps ahead of him, and had already dived down to find the exact location of the tunnel.
As the now-wet redhead resurfaced, he asked her, "How do you do that? The water's so cold!"
Blizzard blinked, then shrugged. "I've been doing it for quite some time now," she pointed out, pricking Hiccup with the curiosity of how she actually became stranded on an island. "The water isn't that cold to me."
Hiccup decided not to say anything as he followed her deeper into the rich blue water. His rucksack was up on shore, left there after the strange girl recommended it. She had been abrasively reluctant to leave anything else behind (which basically meant she would not leave her "knife" behind), and Hiccup, still not fully trusting her, did not argue. Blizzard had already proved that she could beat him.
"The tunnel entrance is up there," the girl said, pointing to a certain point a few yards away. "But the water gets deeper here. You'll have to swim."
Hiccup groaned in annoyance. It would be difficult to swim in almost-hypothermia-inducing water, and it didn't help that he was missing his foot (well, he'd been missing his actual foot for a while. He was missing his prothetic foot) and the water and taken the grassy bandage and swept it away in a sudden current that was near the shoreline.
"It's not that hard," Blizzard said, catching his reluctance. "Here, I got an idea." With that, she suddenly dived under the water gracefully, and Hiccup could see her watery silhouette swimming out into the deeper part of Depth Bay. Hugging himself with his arms, Hiccup shuddered and tried to get used to the cool water.
He took a few more steps before glancing upward. The sun's never gonna shine here, is it, he thought. That was probably half of the reason why the water was so cold, but also the fog that was not exactly filled with warm evaporated water didn't help.
The ocean was very peaceful, Hiccup realized with a small shot of confusion. Normally, around the jagged rocks, the water was very choppy, with white foam spraying everywhere. Maybe it was just because the brown-haired boy couldn't see more than a few meters ahead of him, but there was no sign of white foam, or any other islands. And, Hiccup realized with a shiver down his spine, there was no sign of life.
Well, until now.
Something feeling awfully like a human hand grabbed Hiccup's right foot and yanked, making him crash into the shallow bay. His cry was cut off abruptly by the salty tang and the bitter cold of the water, and he quickly slammed his eyes closed so they would not sting. The hand let go, allowing him to rapidly swim upward a few inches, since he had been lying horizontally on the bay floor. When he caught oxygen again, he took a deep breath and sputtered out salty water, as Blizzard resurfaced, laughing.
"You should'a seen your face!" she laughed. Her voice had gotten considerably better from its dead-like state, and now she sounded perfectly normal.
"Blizzard!" Hiccup said, shivering once again. "The water's cold!"
Blizzard's face was still lit with laughter, but she stopped to say, "I know. You need to get used to it eventually. Besides, I wanted to know if you opened your eyes under water."
Hiccup started at her, dumbfounded. "You could have just asked me!"
Blizzard's smile fell for a minute, but then it returned. "That's not as fun!" she said, holding out a piece of yellow-green seaweed in her hands. "Take one end," she instructed as Hiccup took a hold of the slippery ocean plant. "So when you close your eyes, I'll be able to lead you."
Hiccup nodded, so Blizzard began walking into the bay once more. The water now reached Hiccup's torso when the blue-eyed girl added, "I may stop for a moment in the tunnel. I want to check something. If you, um . . ." Blizzard's face looked as if she was asking an absurd question, but she continued nonetheless; "If you need to breathe, 'cause if were down there too long, just pull on the seaweed and I'll lead you out."
"Thanks," Hiccup said, relieved that she wouldn't try to drown him (so he hoped). Blizzard gave a curt nod, then suddenly stopped and looked downward. Hiccup copied her, and if he looked hard enough he could see that the water did indeed get deeper right in front of her bare feet.
"Take a deep breath," Blizzard said, eyes never leaving the water. When Hiccup did, she mimicked his breathing and speedily dived down. Hiccup closed his eyes.
He felt cold water all around his face, and his hand gripped tightly onto the seaweed. He had no clue how long the tunnel was, and did certainly not want to be lost. The seaweed pulled him along, with Blizzard swimming ahead; he could hear her feet kicking in the water.
Odin, let us get out, he prayed quickly as he felt sand brush his right leg. The seaweed was tugged harder, making Hiccup hold on tighter, after feeling it slide a bit out of his grasp. He assumed they were in the tunnel, but he could not confirm his theory due to the fact that his eyes were tightly closed, and were not about to open.
Soon Hiccup became a little light-headed. How long does this tunnel go, he wondered, until there's air again?
For some bizarre reason, Hiccup's life began flashing. Not all at once, but just bit by bit. Perhaps part of his mind was triggered, sensing that he could not breathe and that the "end" was "near".
It wasn't, though.
Hiccup saw himself being the most worthless person on Berk. He remembered how he had basically been driven to talking to himself about his life, once during a dragon raid. Funny, how that same morning, the brown-haired boy shot Toothless out of the sky.
He had entered dragon training, saying "Pain. Love it!" in the most "I'm-in-dragon-training-I'm-cool-now" voice he could muster. The other teens, now his friends, had laughed him off.
Hiccup had met Toothless, and almost been killed by the Night Fury's wrath. However, Toothless had decided to return the knife gesture that Hiccup had performed. Look like you're about to kill someone, decide not to.
Hiccup saw Toothless and him flying.
He saw the battle with the Red Death.
He lost his foot.
He became the hero . . .
A sharp poke jabbed him in the ribs. Forcing himself to keep all his air in, Hiccup turned, eyes still closed, and wondered why Blizzard had done that.
The answer came a second later.
Hiccup exploded from the water, and let go of the seaweed that had been slowly crawling from his wet hand. Taking a gasp, Hiccup slowly inched upward, realizing that his torso and under was still under the water.
Opening his eyes, Hiccup saw a very wet Blizzard standing above him, holding out her hand. His arms were holding him up on a ledge, with water under him. Behind Blizzard was a silvery tunnel, alit with mysterious metallic-colored stones, which glowed brightly. His eyes widened when he saw the prettiness of the tunnel, due to the color.
Blizzard let out a sigh of impatience, grabbed Hiccup's hand by herself, and pulled. It was obvious that she could not lift him up by herself, and Hiccup scrambled up by putting his right foot up on the ledge, then hoisting himself up.
"Thanks," he said to Blizzard, who only shrugged. Her dress was hanging soggily on her very thin and bony frame; it was obvious she had not eaten properly for a while.
"The tunnel goes on, and splits into a few more," Blizzard explained, pointing down the tunnel, Hiccup's eyes following down the beautifully-lit stone tunnel. "It's really a whole labyrinth around the whole island."
"Huh," Hiccup said, rather fascinated. "D'you know how these got here?"
Blizzard shrugged, eyes darting to the continuous tunnel, as if she expected someone evil to come from it. "No clue. They've been here longer than I have."
Instantly Blizzard took a sharp inhale, sharpening Hiccup's curiosity. "Let's go," she said abruptly, grabbing Hiccup's wrist and walking briskly down the tunnel.
"Ah!" Hiccup said when his left leg stomped on the ground, and since with no foot, it shot sharp pains up. It was similar to if someone kept jumping off a three-foot cliff over and over, just with one foot.
It hurt.
"Slow down," Hiccup said, removing his wrist from Blizzard's tight grasp. "Why are we going so fast?"
"To find your dragon faster," Blizzard replied simply, but nevertheless she slowed down a bit. "Sorry. I'm going fast 'cause I normally don't wander off in these tunnels." Once again, as if she spilled a secret, Blizzard took a quick inhale and screwed her eyes tight. Hiccup looked at her in mild confusion yet interest as she continued walking, but once again at a brisker pace. Lucky for him, she wasn't going as fast as before.
"So, are you and your dragon best friends?" Blizzard asked, her voice laced with inquisitiveness.
"Pretty much," Hiccup admitted, gazing at every crevice and rock within the tunnel. "We met just about a year ago."
"Huh," Blizzard said, swiftly glancing at Hiccup's limp. "I've never thought of a dragon being a friend," she said, seeming truthful. "But then again I've never really thought of a friend."
Hiccup blinked, but did not respond. Instead he steadily limped alongside the scrawny girl, while she diddled with her mirror shard in her hands, occasionally splitting her skin and causing a small bead of blood to form. She took no notice; rather, just wiped it on her head, and Hiccup assumed this was because her hair looked very similar to the color of blood.
After a minute, Blizzard stopped cold, and quickly shot out her left arm to halt Hiccup just as abruptly. He jerked back, his gaze questioning the isolated girl, but she merely put a finger to her lips, signaling quiet.
The redhead tilted her head so that her left ear was facing the tunnel in front of them. She held her breath for a moment, but soon turned back to Hiccup, eyes blazing with something unknown.
"Let's go. There's a clearing up ahead," Blizzard said, glancing down at his foot and adding, "I'll find something for your foot."
"Thanks," Hiccup said, and let Blizzard lead the way once more. He was very confused by the islander's behavior, from attacking him to actually knowing about a network of tunnels underneath Depth Island.
True to her word, Blizzard led Hiccup into a small clearing, which Hiccup guessed could house about four dragons. An immediate thought came to him, and it caused him to look strangely at Blizzard.
She lived down here.
There was a small spot near the edge of the clearing-cave, where soil was spread out and patted down, similar to a flowerbed. There were logs piled up against a wall, and there was a small heap that was covered by a blanket looking similar to Blizzard's dress.
Clearing her throat awkwardly, Blizzard stepped into the clearing shrugged. "Welcome to my home, Red Cave."
"Uh, nice name?" Hiccup said, unsure whether it was a question or statement himself. "Did you name it after your hair?"
"No." Blizzard walked over to the pile and snatched up the blanket. Underneath lay a various assortment of items. "I was bleeding the first time I was here."
Alarm buzzed through Hiccup, but before he could ask Blizzard began speaking again. "It wasn't bad. I was breaking a mirror up and it shattered, and then I had tiny mirror shards in my arms." The redhead pointed to a small spot on her arm, where the skin was slightly darker. "That was the deepest cut."
Hiccup limped over to her as she sat down and began sorting through the pile. She sought out a piece of wood, then a small piece of rope. "D'you mind having a heavyweight foot?" she asked, holding up the small block of wood that looked rather poorly whittled. "It's not much, but it's the smallest piece of wood I got," she said.
"No, it's fine," Hiccup said, sitting down next to her and straightening his left leg. Blizzard, using rather clumsy hands, began tying the wood vertically to his foot, so his leg's length evened out to the other one. "So, this is your home?"
Blizzard nodded, still tying. "Yeah. Sometimes I don't like being on the surface, so I swim down here. When the dragon isn't here it's nice and quiet."
There still seemed to be tension coming from Blizzard about the UnderIce dragon, as if she almost respected it in some way. Yet Hiccup could not ask; Blizzard began speaking again. "I dunno. I just like exploring all the caves and tunnels."
"Caves?" Hiccup echoed as Blizzard finished her knot and looked down at it in approval. "There are more than just tunnels?"
"Of course," the redhead said with a hint of scorn in her voice. "It's not just tunnels. It's a labyrinth. There are a lot of caves, and one even looks like a big grand room!" Standing up, the girl held her hand out to Hiccup, which he used to help get himself standing. "I'd show you, but it's on the other side of the island's caves. And I doubt your dragon Toothless would be over there."
"So where do you think he would be?" Hiccup asked, his foot feeling slightly lighter in contrast to his metal-and-wood prothetic foot, while Blizzard shrugged and pointed to a random tunnel.
"Most likely," she defended herself. "The dragon normally goes down that one. If the UnderIce helped Toothless, then both could be down there."
- - § - -
Toothless was almost up to the surface.
He could smell salt so strongly that he could almost taste it.
The crashing waves, which seemed increasingly loud after a long tunnel of silence, made his ears twitch and his eyes blink. He was ready to be up on the surface; ready to be free to fly.
That is, if he could fly.
The Night Fury dragon knew he couldn't fly without Hiccup, but that was why he was going to the surface. He wasn't quite sure how he had gotten down here, anyway. Besides, Hiccup would have never known that Toothless was actually underneath the island.
Anticipation clawing at his stomach (and also small hunger pains) the dragon had been speeding through the eerily-lit tunnels, which seemed somehow wider. Though it might have been him getting used to the claustrophobia.
The salt made him drool; not because it tasted good (because it did not, in Toothless's opinion) but rather that it signified open air. And freedom.
Toothless wanted freedom badly now.
Perhaps this was just another chanced moment; or, maybe a particular white-scaled dragon had led him this way specifically. No matter what the reason, the new opening was going to change Toothless's escape plan.
Drastically.
Toothless was right about the tunnels widening. With every step, they broadened and stretched until the room was a full-blown cave, with a roof high above Toothless's head and the walls in a rough circular shape. The décor, if it could even be called that, was very strange.
Smooth sculpted steps that went from one side to the other of the cave raised up to a lonely stone altar, with one silver gem glowing brightly on it, similar to the ones on the walls.
Salt was all around. The exit was close.
Toothless, pupils wide with excitement and joy, began running toward the altar, not questioning its terrifying beauty in an abandoned cave. Scrambling up the steps, the black-scaled dragon, with one blood-red tail-fin, pawed his way up to the altar, sniffing it. The tang of salt was definitely hanging on the raised table, yet did not reveal any entrance or exit to the ocean.
Instead, Toothless realized with a fresh curiosity, the table had eight tiles, each in a hexagonal shape. Seven on them were arranged in a heptagon, while one, which had a dark shadow incrusted on it, sat directly in the middle. The others each had symbols that Toothless did not recognize at the moment; a star, a leaf, a breeze, a cloud, a rock, a raindrop, and a completely blank stone.
Then Toothless did something that he would forever regret.
He arched his back so his front legs were resting on the table, so he could get a better look at the odd design. The desire to be out of the caves was a small kindled flame in the back of his head, but at the moment, he was more interested in the stones.
Reaching downward, the black-scaled dragon sniffed the middle stone, touching his nose to it. It felt cold and hard, but also with an icy edge to it that made the dragon's mind sear with a sudden fear. Toothless reared back, feeling as if his body heat had been draining out of him.
Which it had been.
It was so fast; so instantaneous. Toothless had almost no time to react after the whole process happened. Yet he watched, with big green irises, as the shadowed stone began to move.
It began quaking uncontrollably, and slowly a deep, dark crevice slowly cut through the middle of the stone, jagged and uneven. But the spirit inside the stone was no perfectionist; it merely wanted freedom.
Which it got, instead of Toothless achieving it.
A shadowed figure, with a dark cloak that could be related to the Grim Reaper's, slowly came out of the stone. A hand first, bony and withered, before a sleeve, then a shoulder, and so on, until a figure of a person came out.
The shadowed figure looked straight at Toothless, who growled and dug his claws into the ground. Yet the figure had no intention of killing him; rather, this Shadow had a message for the dragon.
"Tell them I am the Shadow," the figure hissed in an inhuman voice, making Toothless's wits snap. "And tell the girl to come."
Without a second thought, Toothless bolted from the cave. His mind was whirling, but the Shadow had told him enough, in an odd, horrific mind-sharing way: Hiccup was within the tunnels.
As the dragon turned and fled, Shadow cackled a dark laugh.
"The girl will come! The girl will die!"
- - § - -
Yeah.
What's my definition of this chapter?
Very messy and rushed.
But!
Here; it's the best I can do (sorta).
You know the White, you've met the Blizzard, but the Storm is yet to come.
I just love titles.
-Mitti