Duplicity || HICCUP

CHAPTER TWO

Pain, that was the first thing Aja felt once coming back to consciousness. A bright light burned through her eyelids, coloured orange and warming her face unpleasantly. She pried her eyelids apart, blinking slowly as her surroundings came into focus, revealing an almost entirely wooden home of sorts. Dried herbs and other varying items hung from the rafters, pots clanked against each other lightly from the draft that blew in from the cracked windows, the source of the light that had burned her eyes. She scanned the room, noticing a cauldron boiling over a fire, and a wooden door to the left of it.

Aja attempted to sit up, but a sharp pain erupted from her side. Instinctively, her hand flew to grab her waist, wincing as the pain pulsed, feeling the damp, tightly wrapped bandages.

"Take it easy," a voice said.

Aja spun her head around, surprised to not have noticed the blonde woman seated in a chair towards the back of the bed she was in.

The woman continued, "You've got a nasty cut on your side," she grabbed a wooden cup from the bedside table, handing it to Aja as she spoke. "You're lucky the chief found you when he did."

Aja peered into the cup, and upon realizing it was water, brought it up to her lips, fingers trembling as the liquid soothed her parched throat.

The woman watched as she drank, waiting for Aja to finish. "Do you remember what happened?" The woman asked softly, blue eyes widened.

Aja opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off before she could answer. "Wait, let me get the chief, he should be here now that you're awake." The woman stood up abruptly, the chair skidding away loudly against the wood floor from her movement.

She disappeared outside, the open door allowing a breeze carrying a hint of salt to fill the room. Barely moments later, the woman was back, now accompanied by a man, the "chief". Aja wasn't sure what she was expecting, but the first thing she noticed was how young he was. He couldn't have been much older than her, if not the same age. Her gaze traveled his face, taking in the tousled brown hair that fell just above his tired, green eyes, cheekbones bearing an array of freckles, a testament to days under the sun. As he walked closer, she noticed the subtle limp in his step. Her eyes glanced down, spotting a metal leg that squeaked and sprung where his left foot would've been.

The young chief pulled the chair from earlier over, moving it so he could sit beside her bed to talk to her.

"Do you know where you are?" He asked, once he was seated and eye level. His voice was nasally, but not in a way that annoyed her.

Aja's head was reeling, thinking of her father, of their crew, of their ship, of the attack. She shook her head.

"You're in our healer's home, on Berk."

Berk.

What were the odds the shore she washed upon was exactly the one her father intended to go.

Her father...

Aja's throat burned, each word feeling like sand scratching her insides. "Was there anyone with me?" She needed to know if anyone had survived.

The chief's lips pressed tightly together as he frowned, shaking his head.

Aja squeezed her eyes briefly, attempting to calm the onslaught of feelings and thoughts that were ready to attack her brain. "There were flames, my father threw me into the sea," she whispered as the memories replayed, trying to make sense of it all.

The chief's expression grew somber, sharing a quick glance with the earlier woman who stood behind him. He turned back to Aja, "I'm sorry about your father," he said, voice sincere, each word laden with an understanding that came from his own experiences.