Hi, apologies for the hiatus! Hope y'all had a merry Christmas!
Chapter 12: Attack at Sea
They were falling, falling fast. Tuffnut and Ruffnut were at the mercy of the winds as they screamed and plummeted like rocks into the dark.
They hit the stormy waters, smacking against its aqueous surface like a wall of ice before they were swallowed whole. Tuffnut flailed his arms and kicked his legs, desperately trying to find the surface, but with the current tossing him around like a toy ship in the dark, it was hard to tell which way was up and which way was down.
Panic began to wash over him as he began to lose air? What was he going to do? If he did not get air, and soon, he would suffocate. Plus, he could not swim.
He had to breathe. He had to breathe.
Tuffnut choked in pain as water flooded his nostrils. His lungs burned as if on fire, and with every sporadic cough he took in more and more fluid. Tuffnut's mind turned and spun in unbridled terror. He was going to drown. He could not swim.
Out of nowhere, a hand shot forth and grabbed him by the tunic. The next thing Tuffnut knew his nose and face broke through an aqueous film. A violent coughing fit seized him before he could finally recognize his rescuer.
Beside him, with her arm wrapped under his shoulders, was Ruffnut.
"Ruff!" spluttered Tuffnut. He coughed as a wave of saltwater slapped across his mouth. "You saved me-"
"Not Yet! We gotta get back in the air, or we'll drown!"
"Wait. Barf. Belch!" Tuffnut twisted his head left and right in a frantic search. "Where are they?"
"No idea!" shouted Ruffnut over the storm. She readjusted her grip around her brother. Tuffnut felt himself sinking slightly. "Tuff! Keep kicking, or you'll sink both of us!"
Tuffnut's eyes widened in terror. "I don't know if that's gonna help or not."
Ruffnut's eyes followed Tuffnut's pointed finger, and her jaw dropped.
Illuminated by a flash of white lightning was a blood-orange sea dragon towering threateningly above them. The Scauldron screeched in anger.
"GO!" Ruffnut paddled desperately against the turbulent current, her brother pitifully trying to follow after her.
Tuffnut suddenly felt a massive jaw clamp down on the scruff of his tunic and pluck him out of the sea. Tuffnut flailed and kicked his legs to break free but it was a futile effort. He was like a mouse struggling and writhing against the iron-grip of an enormous cat's paw.
Ruffnut reached her hand out in an attempt to grab hold of him, but it was too late.
"TUFF!"
"HELP! HEEEEEELP!" screamed Tuffnut as he was lifted up into the air, dangling by the Scauldron's teeth. With one powerful jerk, it whipped back its head and tossed Tuffnut up into the air. Tuffnut somersaulted in midair as he fell down.
He caught sight of the Scauldron's agape jaws, widened open like the bottomless abyss of death.
He was going to fall into it.
A red blur swooped across his vision. A pair of sharp talons gripped him by the forearms, stopping him in midair so abruptly his shoulders were almost yanked from his sockets. Tuffnut looked up and saw Snotlout glancing down at him from Hookfang's neck.
"Thanks! I thought I was gonna die there!" Tuffnut shouted as another rumble echoed through space. "I didn't think you cared!"
"Tuff, you're annoying, but I'm not that heartless," Snotlout replied and ordered Hookfang to hoist him up in a position behind him. "Where is Ruffnut?"
Tuffnut shielded his eyes from the rain, peering out into the black, swirling cesspool of saltwater. "I can't see her! We gotta get lower, that Scauldron's gonna eat her-"
Just then the vicious dragon in question made a lunge at the Monstrous Nightmare who barely dodged its venomous bite in time. Snotlout grasped onto Hookfang's horns, steering himself, Tuffnut, and his dragon out of the way of several sprays of boiling hot water from their attacker. Hookfang screeched warningly as he wobbled in the turbulent winds which swirled round and round, back and forth, up and down. Hookfang was finding it hard to fly, let alone maneuver in this weather. Any longer, and he would end up in the sea like Ruffnut and her Zippleback, wherever it was.
From behind them, came a roaring threat that would have blown their eardrums had the drowning howl of the wind cushioned the cry. The Scauldron turned its head in the direction of the noise. In rode Stoick the Vast, standing atop his Thunderdrum, his axe sheathed outward. Lightning flashed, illuminating his war-hardened face which glowered in determination and fury.
"COME AT ME, YA VICIOUS BEAST!" he shouted, and Thornado snarled, egging their opponent into a battle to the death.
The Scauldron screeched, accepting the challenge and lunged forward. Thornado, being a burly dragon, was not as affected by the whipping winds and maneuvered swiftly to the side, and Stoick smacked the dragon in the face with the side of his weapon. The Scauldron cried out in agony.
Stoick glanced over at Tuffnut and Snotlout. "GO! Find Ruffnut and the others! I'll deal with this!"
"Are you serious?!" Snotlout hollered back. "Do you have any idea how dangerous a Scauldron is?!"
"I can handle it!"
"Alone?!"
Stoick laid a hand on Thornado's scaly head, not breaking eye contact. "I'm not alone. Now go. GO!"
Hookfang did not need to be told twice and swooped down towards the crashing waves below. Tuffnut and Snotlout scanned the waves, desperately searching for any sign of Ruffnut. Her face, her helmet, her hand, anything that could possibly be her.
"Ruffnut! Ruffnut!" Tuffnut called over the crashing of the waves and the roaring rain and winds.
No answer. Everything was muffled, drowned out by the angry moaning and wailing of the storm. Buckets of rain dumped upon them, soaking them to the bone.
"Where is she?!" Tuffnut seized Snotlout's shoulders and fiercely shook him.
"I'm looking." Snotlout shook his friend's urgent grip off.
"Look, she can't swim! Okay, she can swim, I can't," Tufnfut clarified, his mind sidetracking as it did sometimes to cope from pressure. "But my point is, she can't swim well in this! So, we need to pick up the pace!"
"I'm doing my best, Tuffnut! So, I'd appreciate it if you stopped yelling at me!" Snotlout shouted, the panic overwhelming him.
"Sorry! I yell when I'm scared! You should know that by now!"
"Yeah?! Well, join the club!"
Just then, a flash of lightning crackled across the sky, shooting down towards Hookfang's right wing. He veered left in a roar of panic. Tuffnut and Snotlout jerked in their seats. Snotlout lost his grip on the handles. He windmilled his arms, attempting to regain balance, but he failed and slid off the wet saddle. Tuffnut quickly reached out and snatched Snotlout by the arm, catching him just in time.
Tuffnut struggled and strained trying to pull his hanging friend back up onto the saddle, but he found his sopping, slippery hand struggling to keep hold of Snotlout's own. He was barely strong enough to hold on to him as it was.
Risking the loss of balance, Tuffnut twisted his legs around Hookfang's neck and double-fisted Snotlout's beefy hand. Grunting in effort, he pulled with all his might. He hoisted Snotlout up into the saddle behind him.
"You okay?!"
"Yeah! And good news!" Snotlout responded, readjusting his helmet which had fallen into his eyes. He jerked his pointer finger downward to a stray log being tossed about in the waves. There was someone clutching onto it, screaming for help.
Tuffnut laughed incredulously. "Ruff! She's okay! She's really okay!"
Just then, as Tuffnut was watching the current and pull of the waves, he noticed the strange circular shape of them. How they twisted and spiraled round and round, so that it looked like the top of a hungry tornado.
A whirlpool.
"She's getting pulled in!" Tuffnut suddenly found himself clutching onto Hookfang's horns. Determination fired in his chest.
"Tuff, what are you- DOING?!""
Tuffnut kicked his heels into Hookfang's neck hard, sending him into a vertical dive. Snotlout screamed as they shot straight like an arrow towards the mouth of the sea below.
Down they shot, swooping down, wind swooshed past them as they got closer and closer to the swirling, dark waters. Closer, closer…
"TUFF!" screamed Snotlout, and reaching to the front, he grabbed hold of Hookfang's horns, pulling the Nightmare into a hover just before they hit the water.
Tuffnut frantically scanned the whirlpool, and caught sight of Ruffnut's frantic waving hand.
"Help!" came her faint call.
Hookfang dove after Ruffnut, following the swirling tide of the whirlpool, fighting the pull of the current. They got closer and closer. Tuffnut could see Ruffnut's bobbing head and flailing arms, fighting and splashing against the pull. Tuffnut reached out a hand. Ruffnut stretched out hers.
Just a little more. Just a little more…
Tuffnut grabbed her hand and began to pull her out of the water. But then, Ruffnut let out a shriek as a pair of massive jaws erupted forth and latched onto the girl's ankle.
Snotlout and Tuffnut exclaimed in surprise and terror as they saw a pair of luminous yellow beaming out from a murky teal dragon.
Another Scauldron.
It yanked on Ruffnut, but Tuffnut pulled on her wrist with two hands. He twisted his legs around Hookfang's neck as anchor as he pulled with all his might. Snotlout grasped Tuffnut's shoulders, trying his best to help. It was a tug of war. Ruffnut screamed in pain.
"NO!" yelled Tuffnut, straining.
The Scauldron snarled and pulled hard at Ruffnut. Her wet wrist slipped through Tuffnut's grip, and he would have lost her had he not re-grappled her hand just in time.
When the Scauldron began to pull again, Ruffnut dashed her free foot against the creature's slit-like nostrils, effectively causing it to withdraw its hold and screech in agony. Tuffnut wasted no time and hoisted her up onto Hookfang.
The Monstrous Nightmare wasted no time and turned tail as an onslaught of water blast spewed in their direction. When the three riders turned to glance back, they noticed in horror that the Scauldron was pursuing them, gradually getting closer and closer.
Ruffnut winced, "I think I made it angry."
"YOU THINK?!" Snotlout snapped as another thunderclap sounded.
"Watch it!" Tuffnut screamed as a scalding blast nearly peeled his head from his shoulders. "C'mon, Snotlout, tell Hookfang to bob and weave, or we're toast!"
"He's trying, but he can't! He's carrying too much weight!"
"Seriously?!"
"Seriously! Three people makes it a little hard to maneuver!"
Ruffnut looked around frantically. "Barf! Belch! Where are they? Tuff, we have to find our dragon-"
She cut herself off with a scream. Another blast passed so closely that a brief wave of unbearable heat passed over the right of Ruffnut's face. Snotlout urged Hookfang on, and the Monstrous Nightmare redoubled his pace. The wind roared, and the clouds dumped buckets and buckets of freezing water, but still they raced on.
Snotlout looked back and saw the Scauldron coming up behind them. Its cave-like jaws opened wide like a yawning, black abyss, ready to swallow them whole…
A sustained and deafening roar rumbled forth. Snotlout and the twins clapped their hands over their ears as they burned in pain from the reverberating sound blasting at them. Through the rainy haze, Snotlout glimpsed at the Scauldron turning its gaze away from them and to the far right. He followed the sea monster's gaze and spotted the electric blue silhouette of a mighty Thunderdrum. And atop its back rode the mighty and terrifying Chief Stoick the Vast, shouting a warcry that could have rivaled the fury of the gods themselves.
He unsheathed his battleaxe, a flash of lightning reflecting off its blade. Thornado swooped down and unleashed his deafening roar. The Scauldron recoiled with a wince of pain from the sound. While it was stunned, Stoick wasted no time and swung his axe at the beast's head, managing a thin slice in the lizard's cheek. The Scauldron bellowed in pain. It snapped jaws at Thornado, but the Thunderdrum managed a dodge and smacked its whiplike tail in the Scauldron's right eye. Stoick dealt another scratch with his axe. The Scauldron lifted its head, and an unearthly, ear-splitting shriek shook the heavens. The riders winced and covered their ears, but the cry still reverberated unsettlingly in their bones.
"What was that?!" Tuffnut shouted in terror.
Snotlout opened his mouth to reply, but he stopped when above the tumultuous storm, he heard a low rumbling, rising and growing steadily louder. He glanced down at the waters and saw a cornucopia of billowing, snaking waves shooting against the tides like cracks in a frozen river.
Electric terror zipped down Snotlout's spine. The Scauldron's cry was not because of pain.
It was a distress call.
A moment had barely passed when a blast of water erupted forth. CHOOOM!
Snotlout drew back his arms shielding his face to find himself surrounded by several Scauldrons.