Chapter 52: Something Hidden Beneath the Surface

Astrid

My weight would rock itself from side to side ever so gently; the crashing noise of the outside world was expanding inside my ears as if everything had been heightened through a nightmare something I couldn't stand. For a moment I wished I could return back into unconsciousness, at least then I would know I was remained on Berk but taking in the noise surrounding me and the rock my body swayed from left to right I knew Berk wasn't the case instead it something else entirely. It wasn't best for me to be kept lying down because from wherever I am I knew I had to get out and back to Hiccup as soon as possible. He's on Berk where it's safe I know that for a fact because the rest of the riders are there as is his mother and father, but my heart was tearing at my insides lunging to get back to him as this was a way entice him outwards away from safety. My weight adjusted it's positioning as my eyes began to waver open and I noticed myself to be placed in a small isolated room on a rocking ship sailing away from my childhood home. The distance between Berk and I was probably at a good set of kilometres by now depending on how long I've been asleep but either way I was going to get back there no matter how long it would take me to do so. I analysed the room I was sat in, not to get used to the place, but to have an understanding to where I was so I'd be able to make a great escape route.

Though it's like I mentioned; I was placed in an isolated room, from all the ships we've raided in the past there were numerous cages travelling from one end of the ship to the other but in this case there was nothing except wooded walls trapping me from every angle and every direction. That's when I touched what I was sat on; my eyes made its way down and I noticed no material was placed on top of the caged bars creating the remnants of what was supposed to be a bed. My eyes began travelling to looks around the whole bed and I soon realised there were four manacles scattered evenly on the edge. Peering in closer these manacles were of a petite size; delicately lifting each one I realised tiny prints of blood were carved inside. Inside two of them there were massive of blood spots; that's when I saw through the corner of my eye the chain spread across the deck leading to a latch at the bottom of the floor. It didn't take me long to figure out where I was because the evidence made it completely obvious; I could've guessed from a few factors earlier. The thought of Hiccup being kept in a room such as this one made my stomach churn with my blood boiling rapidly sending rage vibrating through every single bone.

With a creak of the door opening in the distance my head spun round to have a look at the looming figure making an entrance. Automatically I made a stand very slowly with my body turning round to greet them but not with a pleasant notion. My fits began to curl in my hands as I could the tips of my fingers start to dig inside my palms. Taking in account my anger I could swear if I pushed any harder blood would start spilling to exaggerate the emotions igniting inside my body. "I see you're awake, I was wondering when-," just hearing the voice of Viggo sent me into a rage. Immediately the pulse inside me took a leap towards Viggo; I smashed his weight up against the wooden wall across the way from us holding him in place with as much aggression as I could so he wouldn't move from my hold. I let my eyes pierce down into his with the glare written as profoundly as it could be but I knew looking deep inside the eyes of Viggo Grimborn he played no affect whatsoever. It didn't matter because I didn't want to scare him there was no need for that I just needed to let my anger out on him before I wouldn't be able to get another chance.

"Getting accustomed to your new accommodation for the meantime," the smug look on his face with his comment sent an impulsive a fire a light inside of me. I pulled him back away from the wall and slammed him back against it just as he started laughing at me "You're sick, I hope you know that," I pulled away from him as he placed a hand gently on his head before looking down at the small glass of blood resting on his fingertips, that's when a smile hit my face. "I take it you already know where you are, considering the actions you just pulled. Or is that just regular normal Astrid Hofferson?" I forced my profound glare further on him just as he stood casually looking at me with his hands kept behind his back like he usually does. "Both," I started shaking my head looking all around me gesturing to what was in front of us "How could you do this to him?" I rested my eyes back on Viggo who still wouldn't move from his position, at least now I liked the distance between us because the closer I was to him the stink of antagonism expressed from him. "Because that's what he deserves from disobeying his family," there it was again the fire boiling through every vein in my system.

"You. Are. Not. His. Family." I stated harshly word by word; I was trying to contain the new, fresh anger flowing through me but if something explosive came out of his lips next then I knew I would probably lose it. "Well according to my father he was and I had to put up with it for fourteen years so please tell me how do you think that makes me feel knowing my dad disregarded me and my brother for something that isn't his own blood." I finally stood casual just as Viggo did but not entirely because of his words but because maybe I was going to get information out of him but only if I played it right. I could try and use a tactic from the twins and try something sly to see what I can get out of him but I had to make sure I wasn't going to make it obvious. "What did he ever do to you?" I asked one of the most important questions that was lingering in the air between the two of us "He stole my father's legacy away from him, he stole mine and Ryker's family and you think he's the innocent one," I couldn't help but laugh at the statement he just confronted me with "Has it ever crossed your mind Viggo, that maybe you're father was already changing and the way Hiccup acted was his final decision to make a change for the better. If you stopped hating him for just one bloody second then maybe you would see it too," suddenly I felt my weight be crashed and held against the wall but just like Viggo was beforehand I remained calm and relaxed in my positioned because his demeanour didn't scare me. Especially when I looked deep inside his heavy chestnut eyes I couldn't see no fear from me inside the reflection.

"You know nothing about my father or about Hiccup, nothing," I looked deeply into his eyes and said with ferocity "I know you need Hiccup, I don't know for what and neither does he, but we all know you need him otherwise you wouldn't be so keen to get him and if you didn't need him then you would have killed him already," gradually his hold on me weakened leaving the pair of us staring at each other "Tell me if that's a lie because I know it's not," he walked away from me so we were at speaking distance once again "Well done Astrid, I guess you do have brains as well as good looks. I'll make you a deal, I know how much Berk means to you and your tribe as does the Edge, you give Hiccup to me and I'll leave both islands alone including the Defenders of the Wing," my eyes widened at his request. I already knew my answer but I couldn't control the pounding of my heart. I could save three islands of civilisation just for one person but why would he make a deal like that? "I have a better deal, you leave Berk, the Edge and the Defenders of the Wing AND HICCUP alone and we won't attack your auctions and compound any longer," I stood on the back of one of my heels with my arms crossed producing a smug expression his way while he let out a small chuckle "Not possible, give us Hiccup and we'll leave those islands alone." I fixed my positioned leaning back on the balls of my feet throwing my arms down at my side forcing my azure eyes inside the soul of Viggo so he would get the next message I'm about to communicate to him. "Why can't you leave him alone?! Why is he so important to you?!"

"Bring him to us and those islands will be left alone, that's the deal, yes?" I shook my head at me raising my eyebrows slightly ready with a confident answer "No, no deal," a glare formed across Viggo's face just has he started heading for the door "That's a shame because this could have ended much easier if you'd just agreed. It doesn't matter because he'll come to find you anyway and when he does, a choice will be made and we both know what choice that will be," I stood there looking at Viggo with a frown against my face as I listened intently on what he was saying to me. With the final sentence he claimed I knew what he meant and I gasped. I ran to the door to close the distance between us but before I could lunge towards the man the door was shut in front of my eyes and I felt my hands colliding repeatedly against the wood crying out to him "You can't do this! I won't let you do this!" with the silence as my comeback there was no point in wasting all my energy banging on a door when I knew no response would come my way. He was right; capturing me was just step one of the plan, step two didn't matter to him because even if I did say yes he'd have Hiccup and now I've said no he'll still get Hiccup because that was the whole idea of reaching me. The only way to get to Hiccup is through me because he doesn't want me getting hurt, how could I have been so stupid to have let my guard down?

I spun away from the door screwing my hands up through my hair panicking inside and out about what I was supposed to do. All I could hope was Hiccup doesn't do anything stupid because he seems like he's capable of that just to keep the people he loves safe. What am I thinking? Of course he's going to do something stupid, he'd rather sacrifice himself than let anyone he loves get hurt because of him. The more my mind would think about the situation I started travelling across the room, pacing back and forth looking for an answer to solve this dilemma. I found nothing, being stuck in this cell I was completely useless all I had was faith on something that wasn't possible. I can't change his mind and I'm pretty sure the rest of the riders nor his family will be able to either, so there was nothing left to do but to let the events unfold. It was this moment the adrenaline in my bones disappeared, the anger of fire igniting within my bones vanished and I suddenly felt empty; with nothing else holding me together I went and collapsed on the rickety wires used for a bed – a very uncomfortable one might I add but there's nothing I can do about that. My back rested itself against the wall as did the rest of my body and repeatedly I started banging my head in defeat trying to succumb the emptiness I'm feeling. I felt for Hiccup so much and now I've let him down that's what's killing me the most because I never wanted to let him down and now I have. The only hope left was Leia, she was with him so now she has to protect him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid and if even she can't change his mind then I fear we've lost all hope; I shouldn't be thinking like this but the sad part is I am.

Has Astrid Hofferson given up? No that's not possible, just because I'm stuck with the Grimborn's doesn't mean I have to lose hope that Hiccup will do the wrong thing. He's smart, as are the riders so they'll come up with a better solution than what my thoughts are wandering to. There is one thing I could do while I'm sat in the cell though and that's trying to figure out what Viggo has such an interest in Hiccup. It drives me nuts because Hiccup has always hated his time with them and Viggo has always hated having him around so the fact that he needs Hiccup back means there is something deeper going on than we know about. The question is what? If only Hiccup had his memories of his younger years at that place then maybe just maybe we'd have a clue to what was going on. I started to piece together the bits and pieces I could about what I know, Hiccup always watched and heard the brothers have communications with Johann, who has completely vanished off the scene might I add so obviously he has a role in all this somehow. Anyway, Hiccup talked about multiple cages and equipment being put together and...and...and that's how far I can go because that's all he can remember as well as knowing about Leia. Leia won't even be able to help because she said Aryan and Ashley always kept her in their room because they didn't trust what was happening at the compound. Sighing heavily I let go of mental thoughts and even though it was uncomfortable I didn't care. I'd run out of the energy to even think, to even try and piece together the puzzle because my brain was in puzzlement. Instead I led here waiting for the events to unfold.

Settling back into the curious rocking motion of the ship and the crashing sound of the waves hitting against the ships bottom I wanted to let it drift me off into a slumber. Even this was no use because my mind always swayed back to Hiccup and how he must be feeling right now. I promised him I'd meet him up at the Great Hall, now I've broken that promise to be part of something that could get him hurt and I was going to be responsible for it this time. How is any of this fair? Hiccup never asked for any of this and little by little he keeps getting roped back in just when he grasps that little piece of freedom. It's as if the whole world is against him or something and there's nothing he can do about it, the moment he grasps hold of the rope and climbs he just falls back down. Though that's the bright thing about Hiccup, when he seems like the world has knocked him down he gets back up as if nothing has happened and no matter how many hits he'll take he won't let it show. Knowing this, letting it slip back in my brain a small smile crept across my lips and for the first time since I've been here I finally felt at ease. I let my hand move across the edge of the bed feeling the scratched and rusted metal. I don't know how long they've made Hiccup sleep on this bed because it seems incredibly outdated, not that it matters because they don't care about him.

I sighed heavily one again turning onto my side resting my hands underneath my head to rest as my pillow for the journey wherever we're travelling to. When I did so I could feel something underneath my hands so I sat up slowly to see I was rested at the very top of the bed and through the corner crack of the wires I could see something small contrasting to the material of the wires including the colour; the colour seemed much brighter the damp bed. I moved in closer to get a closer look and there inside the small gap in the corner was a small piece of parchment inside the hole. I picked at it delicately until a small strand of the parchment removed itself from the gap so it was no easier to pull it out. I let the scrunch fall into the palm of my hand, lifting my head I looked to see whether or not Viggo or Ryker was close to the room before I decided to open the scrunch in my hand. The gentle diagram on the parchment made my face light up because I knew who drew the design because I'd know his sketches from anywhere. The details Hiccup created to produce the outline of the Night Fury was incredible and the design within the eyes was beautiful it looked extremely realistic that was until I paid a deeper attention to the drawing I was facing. I pulled the drawing closer to my eyes to catch a better look and the design wasn't of a Night Fury at all but something that looked very much like one. The ears looked very different, the shape of them was smaller, and the tail of the dragon wasn't the same shape as a Night Fury but almost like a dolphin fin.

Everything about this dragon drawing resembled a Night Fury in a completely different way, it was a Night Fury but at the same time it wasn't. Was there a different type of Furies species out in the wild? And if so, does Hiccup know about them?