Sacrifices

Doctor Haddock

***

"Okay, I know it hurts but you have to keep quiet," Oakley advised at a whisper as she helped Ms. Hofferson hide in a closet at the very back of the party hall. She had found the blonde crawling away from a loose piece of ceiling, threatening to fall on her after being electrocuted. Oakley had jumped in just in time to pull her out of the way.

"Oakley, you shouldn't be here it's not safe." She insisted, hissing in pain as she sat against a shelving unit.

"You don't say?" Oakley gestured to the blonde's burnt leg. She helped her to the ground and swirled her hands to create a sharp piece of ice. Lotus blinked her eyes for a moment to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Oakley sliced the right side of her paramedic uniform to check the wounds, tearing off her belt and tying it around the blonde's thigh.

"Did you see Astrid?" Lotus worried. "Is she okay?"

"Mild shock but she's safe. They all are." Oakley assured. "Right now, I'm more concerned about you."

"Don't worry about me." Lotus thought. "You need to get out."

"That is the single worst thing I could do right now," Oakley explained. "As long as I stay in the school, so will he."

"Wait, you're telling me that thing is after you?!"

"That thing is a human being. He got a hold of a power he couldn't control. That is all." She concluded. "He's not a monster."

"You're talking about him like this is normal."

"This is normal." Oakley sighed. "At least for me. I never thought it would come to this. I just need more time."

"To do what?"

"To figure out how to get my power back." She explained. "And get you out of here."

"Your power..." Lotus thought. "Sorry, just getting used to the idea of dragons and then you throw magic into the mix..." She gestured to StarGazer who was standing guard.

"Not important right now," Oakley mentioned as she rummaged through the blonde's medical bag.

"Sweetie, what are you doing?"

"Your leg is so burned, blood can't get in or out of your foot," She mentioned. "I'm gonna cut into your leg on both sides of the burn to release the pressure." She explained.

"An Escharotomy? But, how'd you know-"

"My mom was studying to be a doctor. Taught me everything she knew." She stated. "Always thought it would come in handy one day."

"Oakley, you can't. You're not authorized to perform a procedure like this." Lotus insisted.

"And if I don't, you're gonna lose your leg." Oakley glared as she pulled out an awful lot of gauze and a scalpel. "I'll take full responsibility. Let them arrest me if they have to. I will never ask you this again, but please, just this once, I'm asking you to trust me." Lotus took a deep breath.

"I guess if I'm gonna lose my leg anyway, what have I got to lose?" She said. "Okay. Do it." She nodded.

"Just one problem," Oakley mentioned. "There's no anesthetic, so you're gonna feel it. And we have to stay quiet." She swirled her hand, creating a small chunk of bark in her hand. "We're going old-fashioned." She admitted. "Bite down." Lotus did as told and bore down on the piece of wood taking deep breaths through her nose as Oakley made two long cuts down either side of her leg. The blonde writhed on the floor as if she were physically trying to tear herself away from the pain. "Okay, good, just focus on me, not on my hands."

Oakley quickly got to work wrapping her leg in gauze as the building rattled.

"Ready or not, here I come." A low voice cackled. Oakley froze in place, subconsciously gripping Lotus' hand. "What's the matter? You don't like Hide and Seek? How could I forget?" He smirked.

"Oak?" Lotus checked.

"Stay here." The brunette ordered.

"Where am I gonna go?" She joked.

"Don't touch anything metal."

"Oakley..." Lotus halted her as she raced out of the closet. "Be careful."

***

After twenty minutes of crashes and lightning strikes, Astrid could no longer stand it.

She paced anxiously back and forth across the parking lot now that she could feel her legs again.

"Astrid, she'll find her," Heather reassured.

"And then what?" She wondered. "I'm telling you heather. Something doesn't feel right. It's like we're... Missing something." Heather placed her hands on Astrid's shoulders to halt her pacing. "Wait!" She thought. "Oakley's powers are tied to her emotions, right?"

"Right," Heather confirmed with a nod.

"So, if Rumble's power came from Oakley, are they tied to his emotions or hers?"

"Oakley said that Rumble can't control the power with his emotions because they were never meant for him." Hiccup reminded from the back of his dragon, still unable to stand without his prosthetic leg.

"She said something about them choosing the only thing they knew," Fishlegs added.

"But they chose evil?" Heather thought. "Oakley's not evil."

"Could've fooled me." Snotlout quipped.

"Oh no." Astrid's eyes opened wide as she spun to Hiccup to see that he may have just come to the same conclusion.

"The day she set the gym on fire..." Hiccup noted. Astrid nodded in agreement.

"That was Oakley?!" The gym coach shrieked.

"What about it?" Heather wondered.

"When we finally chased her down, she was freaking out because she didn't wanna hurt anyone." Hiccup explained.

"She's not evil. The powers chose evil because that's what she thinks about herself." Astrid mentioned with a sigh.

"So to save Rumble..." Heather thought.

"We have to save Oakley," Astrid confirmed.

***