Emma: The Legend of the Darkstalker (HTTYD Fanfic)

Chapter 16: Secret

~When Emma was ten and Blaze was sixteen~

Emma's POV:

I skidded down the rock walls on Drago's island, landing as silently as possible. I had landed in a huge stone room with no roof. There were two tunnels leading in opposite directions. Which one, which one?! I brushed my long hair behind my ear. My heartpounded and buzzed in my ears. Then, I heard footsteps nearing from one of the tunnels! I whipped my head around in frantic search for a place to hide. There was almost nothing in this room except for weapons on the walls. Then, my gaze zeroed in on a barrel in the corner. I quietly slipped behind it and crouched down, just as the figure came into view - it was Eret - Drago's... I don't know what you'd call him... apprentice? employee? guard? slave?

        Eret was Blaze's age. His black hair came down to just below his ears. He wore a brown shirt with a tan fur tunic and navy blue pants. He held a sharp sword in his hand. I forced myself to slow my breathing. I could hear my breath echo across the room. Eret's amber eyes searched the room, looking for the source of the sound. I shrunk down as small as possible, but I was still slightly visable. If he looked over here, I would be busted. Then I felt it - I had to sneeze. The forest had been cold and rainy lately, and I had caught a cold. I tried every possible way I could think of to not sneeze, but it happened anyway. a-cho! My sneeze was quiet, but noticable. Eret's head snapped in my direction. He met my gaze.

        He rushed to the barel and grabbed me by the arm. His grib was unbearably tight. I looked up at him. I felt so small. I was almost definately short for my age, and very skinny. "Let me go!" I squeaked, tugging at my arm.

        "Why are you here?" he demanded, forcing me to look at him. I had tried to break into this place many times--and Eret had caught me every time. At least he had some heart though: he never told Drago, he just sent me away.

        "Eret, let me go!" I squeaked again, a hot tear sliding down my cheak. 

        "Answer my question!" He shook my shoulders. I sucked in a shaky breath.

        "The same reason as always. I want my brother back!" I struggled, but Eret held my arm with ease.

        "Stop struggling, or I'll break your arm!" I stopped struggling and shot him a pleading look. He sighed. "Look, you know that if I let you go get Blaze that I'll pay for it. As soon as you're gone, I'll be torchured!" Ignoring him, I lifted up my other hand in the direction of Eret. An energy beam started to form, but Eret grabbed that hand too, the energy beam dicintagrating. "Don't try that with me, I know all your tricks. You're lucky that I don't kill you. Or turn you in to Drago! And you know that he'd make your punishment a lot worse than death."

        "Eret, please," I whispered.

        "Get out."

        "No!" I screamed, crying. I stomped on his foot, he let go of one of my hands and grabbed his foot. I yanked at my other arm. I formed an energy beam in my hand and aimed it at him. "Don't move!" He froze. "Let me go!" Eret stared at me coldly, like he didn't think that I could do it. "I said, let me go!"

        "You won't shoot me--"

        "--I will! Let me go, or you'll find out!"

        "You're only a little girl. You're not capable of killing me."

        "I'm not a normal little girl. Normal little girls have a family. Normal little girls have a home. Normal little girls don't have to try to break their brother out of prison. Normal little girls aren't freaks or monsters that everyone is afraid of!" I saw a glimmer of sympathy in his eyes. I dropped my hand the energy beam disappearing. "Please, Eret, Bubba is all I have." I stared at the ground for a long moment. It felt like minutes, but could have been only seconds. Then I felt the grip on my arm drop. Eret had let go.

        "Thank you." I turned and ran down the tunnel.

                                                                                 ***

~Berk, "modern" time~

        "Astrid, wait!" 

        We trudged through the tall grass and thick weeds, dodging trees as we ran. I winced as a thornbush raked my skin, tearing the cloth off of my left arm. But I hardly noticed. I didn't have time to stop. Astrid was about fifteen feet ahead of us. Hiccup, was infront of me, but I was right on his heels.

        "Astrid!" he shouted again. But Astrid didn't stop. If anything, she ran faster. Finally, I got sick of it all. I quickly pulled Hiccup to the ground right behind me to get him out of the way before thrusting both hands in front of me. An invisible dome of pressure cleared the forest, plastering all the plants and grass to the ground, before knocking Astrid to the ground with a shriek.

        "Come on!" I tugged Hiccup back to his feet and we ran to Astrid. She pushed herself up. Hiccup held out a hand to help her, but she smacked it before getting up herself. When she looked at Hiccup, she looked so angry. Confused. But when she looked at me it was entirely different. She looked at me with disgust. She looked at me with fear, though she stubbornly tried to hide it. She looked at me as if I wasn't human -- Like I was a monster. Then I saw her staring down a little. I followed her gaze: she was staring at my revealed arm. The thorns had torn the cloth off, revealing the markings. Four scratches ran down my arm, blood dripping from them.

        Her stare made me feel so uneasy. I subconsciously pulled that arm behind my back, so that she could no longer stare at it.

        "Oh, Emma, you're bleeding!" Hiccup gently took my arm an took a small square of cloth seemingly out from nowhere. He dabbed at my arm a bit, before remembering that Astrid was still there.

        "Astrid--"

        "Save it, Hiccup."

        "No, Astrid, just let me explain. Emma isn't dangerous or evil. She won't hurt you."

        "Yah, maybe not now, but what if she decides to be? She may not want to hurt me right now, but I know that she can. And at any moment, she could decide that being nice isn't worth it! She is dangerous, Hiccup. If she decides to turn against us, we're dead."

        "Astrid, stop!" Hiccup begged, as I wiped a tear off of my cheak. "I'll tell you everything."