Hey, guys! I hope you all liked last chapter. The Gemsho is creeeeeepy. KILL IT. KILL IT WITH FIRE, GANG!
Enjoy chapter 21! :D
Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snotlout got to their feet, approaching Astrid, their weapons swinging at their sides, their hands and legs shaking like an autumn leaf blowing in the wind, holding onto the tree by a thread.
"Okay," said Astrid, sheathing her axe and clapping her hands together once to get their complete attention. "Does anyone have any ideas?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"Okay, well, we need to find the Gemsho either way," said Astrid. "There's no other way to go about it." As she spoke, she paced in front of her three friends worriedly, twiddling her fingers as a nervous habit. "The only question is, how do we find the Gemsho?" She stopped in front of Snotlout, silently asking him if he knew what to do.
"I don't know," said Snotlout.
"We could set a trap for the Gemsho," said Ruffnut. "How else do you capture a dragon, but with a dragon trap?"
"Oh that's brilliant," said Snotlout sarcastically. "Who here is smart enough to build a dragon trap?"
"Snotlout, now is no time to be turning the catapult at Ruffnut," said Astrid. "Okay...ideas. Any ideas at all. We need ideas, guys! We can't just go to war like fools without a plan!"
"We started the search party as fools without a plan," said Snotlout. "Why is this any different?"
"Guys, start thinking," said Astrid. "What would Hiccup do?"
"He would...probably look where the Gemsho last was and try to track it that way," said Tuffnut hesitantly.
"Right!" said Astrid. "That's brilliant! Come on, let's see if we can't get some information." They raced to the spot in which the Gemsho had once been standing and then knelt down, looking at the deep claw marks engraved on the forest floor.
"It had wings," said Snotlout. "Huge wings. We don't even know if it's on Berk anymore."
"Oh, it is," said Astrid. "It likes tormenting people, remember? And I have a theory that it can't torment people unless it's relatively close to them."
"You have a theory?" said Snotlout. "Theories don't always work-"
"It's a hunch," said Astrid.
"Well, at least she has something, Snotlout," said Ruffnut, "whereas you're just standing there with your mouth hanging open as if there were no tomorrow."
"Ruffnut, we can't do with insults right now," said Astrid. "We have to work as a team."
We are a team. Everyone has a role. No one person is better, or more important than the other, Hiccup's words flashed through her mind. When he had said them, she and the others had laughed, but now, she was beginning to see how right he really was.
"Okay," said Ruffnut. Astrid looked at her, not expecting her to have agreed so easily and quickly. "Then what do we do?"
"We need to start by finding the Gemsho," said Astrid. "And from there...we just need to try our hardest to destroy it."
"Well, how do we find it?" said Snotlout. "These tracks aren't going to help us, since it was probably flying-"
There was a sudden shrieking sound that cut Snotlout off, which caused all of the riders to turn around and stare into the direction from whence it came. It was a shrieking sound that didn't sound human; actually, it didn't even sound dragon. It was a dull sound, though, yet painfully noticeable all the same.
"Did you hear that?" Astrid asked the people behind there, and they nodded in unison, although the girl was no longer looking at them. Then, through the shrieking sirens, came a whisper.
Come, little children…
Astrid and the others gasped, instantly lifting their weapons and moving into a formation, standing, their backs to each other, their weapons in front of them, ready to be used.
Come on… the whisper said. Don't be shhhhhhyyyyyy.
"I don't like it," said Ruffnut, shaking her head violently as she took a step back, suddenly feeling very helpless, her spear seeming to weigh a hundred pounds. "I think it wants to kill us."
"It...it sounds like...the Gemsho," said Astrid.
"Well isn't that just the icing on the cake," said Snotlout. "The Gemsho wants to eat us. Moreover, it will probably enjoy eating us."
Come little children… the voice calling out again said.
"What do we do?" said Ruffnut.
Astrid inhaled sharply as the shrieking siren continued, the whispering ringing in her ears like an endless record. "We're going to find out what it is," she said, a determined grin flashing across her face as she took a confident step forward. Behind her, Tuffnut gasped.
"Wait a minute…" said Tuffnut. "We don't go towards the creepy scary sounds!"
"Yeah we do," said Snotlout, walking forward to follow Astrid's lead. "We always do."
Tuffnut stared at him for a moment, until he groaned. "I hate that about us!" he said, stomping a foot before following his friends, Ruffnut coming in behind him.
"Astrid," said Snotlout, "I just really hope you know what you're doing." He paused when she didn't respond. "Astrid…?" The girl sighed, her steps faltering only slightly. "Do you know what you're doing?" Snotlout asked.
Astrid stopped altogether, thinking about Snotlout's question. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered what she was thinking, trying to take down the Gemsho with only the help of a few, measly Berkians who were just as scared as she was. She didn't know how she was going to actually kill the Gemsho. All it had to so was swipe her with a single claw, and it was goodbye Astrid Hofferson.
She sighed, turning around to face her friends. Snotlout looked scared, which was a big deal, since he never looked even frightened. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were standing side by side now, their shoulders pretty much touching as they looked to Astrid and awaited her answer.
Astrid took a deep breath, wondering if she should be truthful regarding their situation. At length, Fearless Astrid Hofferson sighed, and spoke one single word that she would forever remember and dread:
"No."