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"Dude, shut up. My brother just said, 'Celebrate too soon, it will be the death of you.' "
Fishlegs worked through the riddle, "Well, that first part seems pretty clear."
"The 'rainbows' part could be referring to the crystals," Astrid remarked.
"Okay, we have to assume that not everyone has dragons, right?" Hiccup was thinking out loud. "So there has to be a normal, human way to solve these."
"We could climb - traverse? " Ska'i didn't fully believe in that, though.
"Hmm, traversing is going to take energy that we can't spare," Fishlegs mused.
"And we don't have enough tools to make that happen," Hiccup added.
"We could swing?" Ruffnut threw out the possibility.
"Yes!" Hiccup burst out. "We could swing a rope over to one of those ice crystal formations on the fair side, and scoot along to the other side!"
"What? I mean, of course," Ruffnut tossed a braid back.
"Do you even have a rope that'll reach that far?" Astrid had doubt leech into her voice.
Hiccup and Fishlegs produced a piece from their bags. "If we tie them together. . . ."
Ska'i inquired, "Why don't we try shooting it over?"
"Oh? With what, an invisible bow and arrow we left on the dragons?" Snotlout scoffed.
Ska'i chose to ignore him, "Spears are my peoples' main weapon of choice. If we could chip away at some ice, and tie one end of the rope, it'd be light enough to throw over."
As that idea sunk in, Hiccup asked, "Would that sound like it'd work, Fishlegs?"
He mulled it over. "Well, crystal does tend to crack over extreme temperatures."
The twins played tug of war, square-knotting the two ropes, while one end was tied around Fishlegs. Snotlout soon tossed her the ice spear, and Ska'i took a few practice throws.
"It's pretty fair," she heard Ruffnut faintly comment behind her.
"Hey! I'm sure she knows that" her brother fiercely whispered back.
After two attempts, the makeshift bridge pierced through her target. And stayed there.
Cheers rang out, and Ska'i let out a happy exhale of relief. The rope didn't budge when Fishlegs tugged, and Tuff swept her up in a hug, twirling her around.
"Thank Snotlout," she credited. "He's the one who was able to sharpen it." As they began to bicker about who'd be the first one to cross, Ska'i seized the opportunity. With great regret, she let her hand slip out of Tuff's, grip the rope tight, and swing her legs up on it.
"Ska'i, what are you doing?" The worry in Tuff's voice was high, but she kept going.
"We've got to cross, somehow. I'll be fine. Just don't let go of the rope, right?"
Hiccup muttered something, then Fishlegs, "I haven't since she first walked out there."
Well, that's admittedly comforting. And she continued inching along the rope, her feet pinching, her legs pushing, her arms pulling. It was a painstakingly long process, and Ska'i was starting to believe this was her life, now. Doomed from a past life to forever inch above this dark mass, without the knowledge if there's anything alive in it, that might burst out of it and eat her. Grunting noises she didn't know she could make, were coming out of her when the top of her head hit something. "Ow!" So that's why the Riders wore helmets. Hurrahs went up on the other side of the chasm, reverberating off the walls. She'd made it. Letting out a heavy exhale of relief, she put her feet down first, ecstatic to feel the ground beneath them, once again. Still not trusting the physical proof she was on the other side, she didn't let go of the rope until she stood up. A laugh escaped her, and she gave everyone a reassuring smile. She tried lifting her arm in a weak wave, but her muscles were too weak to fully follow through.
Hiccup had Ska'i tie her rope end around another crystal, and hold onto it.
Astrid was next. Then Ruffnut. There was a moment when her feet slipped, and Fishlegs instructed her to swing on the rope, from one hand to the next. She made it much faster that time, then it was her twins' turn. Hiccup followed, and Snotlout was after. Last, was Fishlegs.
Hiccup called out, "Alright, Fishlegs! Like we talked about!"
He took a deep breath, gathered as much rope as possible, and stepped off. Everyone uttered startled cries of alarm, and "Odin, no!" But Hiccup's face had a fierce look of set determination on it. "Just hold onto the rope, guys. Astrid, please make sure it's still tied to the crystal. Ruff, keep watch when we haul him up, make sure it doesn't fray."
A joyous laugh came up from the hole, "It worked!"
"Oh, thank Odin," Hiccup sent up the grateful prayer.
Looks of incredulous passed, and Snotlout exclaimed, "You had no idea if that'd work?!"
Hiccup chose to ignore it, readjusting his grip instead. "Alright, guys. Ready, Fishlegs?"
"Ready!"
"Now, let's heave!" Pause. "Heave!" Pause. "Heave!"
Ska'i lost track of time, again. Finally, Fishlegs' tiny helmet appeared over the top, while the guys kept at it until it was a safe enough distance for him to stand up. Everyone sighed in collective relief, rushing up to Fishlegs. They'd all made it.
"We're alive!" Snotlout cheered. The celebration warning from the riddle on the far side forgotten, the Riders whooped and embraced each other.
Ska'i caught Tuff's eyes, and he spun her around in the biggest bear hug. They survived this. After he stopped, she caught sight of a clear path through the crystals. But they weren't done. That riddle was right.
"Alright, I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I am sick of being in this place!" Snotlout's usual disdain and complaining were absent from his voice.
All in agreement, Ska'i and Tuff held hands, entering the next part together.
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