makligr, httyd

ii. what commeth when winter arrives

𖣯 ✹ 🌷(makligr) ꏍ ！┈─❟
╰───►chapter two; hiccup
❝ what commeth when winter arrives! ❞

    HICCUP felt like his entire stomach was sinking with the ship. Fast, sudden━lurching into the waters at an almost full vertical with Dagur laughing in his ears; he knew what he had done. He knew Hiccup far better than he'd like to admit, and that infuriated him. He glanced back and forth, hearing the screams and yells of his friends, the growls of Toothless and the taunts Dagur cried out, standing at the sternpost with a bright, deranged look on his scarred and tattooed face.

    "Isn't this exciting?!" he called out. Hiccup's heart raced. He glanced back at the others, seeing the ship now halfway down into the waters; the cage jolting as it slowly slid. They would be submerged in just minutes. "What will he choose, ladies and gentlemen? Saving his friends or capturing his mortal enemy, his brother?"

    Hiccup gritted his teeth and pulled Toothless around. Leaving Dagur behind, Hiccup pushed his chest flat against the saddle and the Night Fury's body vibrated with his usual shriek whenever he dived. He will have to get back that strange object later. First, he needed to help his friends.

    They landed on the mast━now horizontal━right over the cage where his friends were desperately trying to break the door. Yrsa had rallied the others in an attempt to force it open with all of their weight. But the best it was doing was just bruising their shoulders. Astrid caught sight of Hiccup and she gasped.

    "Hiccup!" she cried. "Get us out of here!"

    When Astrid was asking for help, Hiccup knew they were out of ideas and out of time.

    He tried to think on his toes, and the best thing he could come up with was: "Move back from the door!" Toothless jumped down from the mast, and they landed on the rapidly sinking deck. The waters lapped at the broken stem, dark and deep. Hiccup slipped off the saddle, gripping onto the hinges of the trapdoor to keep himself steady.

    "Toothless," he called, "plasma blast!"

    His dragon reacted without hesitation. Purple escaped from his maw and blasted the lock of the cage━the green sparked and turned red with pure heat, but didn't budge. Hiccup's stomach twisted. Come on, he tried to stay calm and instead focused on the second thing━dragon-proof metal?

    "Dragon-proof bars?" Fishlegs ran back to the door, peering at the lock with wide, inquisitive eyes. "Oh, fascinating..."

    Hiccup walked up to the cage, peering at the metal, "Whoever built this ship really knew what they were doing━whoa!" the ship lurched to the side and HIccup was thrown off balance. He hit the deck, clinging onto the edge of the cage to stop himself from falling overboard.

    Snotlout grabbed the bars with a similar idea. "Oh, you know what would be more fascinating━?" the ship lurched the other way and he was pinned to the bars by Fishlegs. His sarcasm turned into a full on scream, "━GETTING US OUT OF HERE!"

    Hiccup held onto the door, trying to think on his toes. He was great at coming up with plans under pressure, but this was seriously under pressure. He thought about using Yrsa's axe still on his back to cut the lock off━but if it was strong enough to resist a Night Fury's fire, would it shatter the blade? He couldn't risk it. That axe was the last thing she held that her father gave her, he refused to let it get destroyed.

    Miserable, he tried Toothless again. And again. And again. The ship was decending further and further into the dephts, and each blast did nothing but jolt the cage backwards, sending the group of them into serious trembles in their bones.