The Broken Link

Two

We are sitting at a long table, discussing the previous events. I think back to what had just happened.

After the man had said my name and passed out, chaos had ensued. People panicked, and began to blame me for the attacking flying ship immediately. Some Vikings had demanded that I be locked up immediately, while other demanded that I be killed in the spot.

But Hiccup, who I later learned is the chief of Berk, had declared that I was innocent until proven guilty.

A blonde girl bursts into the room. She is covered in battle armour. She scans the room for Hiccup, and locks eyes with him.

"The prisoner is awake, and wants to see you," the girl tells Hiccup. She then looks around the room, and spots me immediately. "He also wants to talk to Merida," It's not hard to figure out how she singled me out. With my wild red hair and green dress, I am very out of place here.

"Thanks Astrid," Hiccup tells the girl. She glares at him, then at me, and flees the room. I don't know what her problem is. Maybe she just blames me for the attackers.

Hiccup sighs after her retreating figure, and looks at me. "I think it's best if you come talk to this guy with me Merida. He seems to know you."

I nod nervously. It briefly crosses my mind that this man knows me well, and came looking for me. But his face stirred no memory in me. I might never even get my memories back.

I leave the long table with Hiccup, and we go to a set of stairs leading downwards. It's quite exhausting, but we finally reach the bottom floor.

It's kind of like a dark, grungy cave here. The only light is coming from a few weakly lit torches on the wall. I wonder how far underground we are.

Hiccup leads me to dungeon of some sort. Behind bars is the same man I shot down from the steering wheel. His shoulder is in a sling, but I can see that other than that, I haven't hurt him much.

The man still has his glasses on. His eyes are small and brown, and his hazel-coloured hair is covering his eyes. He doesn't look scary. Nothing like the Vikings I have seen in Berk. He is small and very skinny. Also scrawny.

The man stares at me when I come into view, and I resist the urge to pull my hair over my face.

Hiccup wastes no time in interrogating the man. "Who are you, and what do you want from Berk?" he says it calmly, but his hands are balled up into fists.

The man pushes his glasses further up on his face, and gives a nervous chuckle. "Well, this didn't go as planned."

"You better have a good explanation for the mess you caused!" Hiccup rants.

"Well, I thought she would've told you by now," said the man, jerking his thumb at me. Hiccup glanced at me, and for a moment, I see a flicker of doubt in his eyes. But it's gone as quickly as it came.

"I don't know you," I tell him.

"Well we haven't met," the man says in an obvious tone.

"She has amnesia," Hiccup replies, waving him off. "Now, who are you and why did you attack us?"

"Amnesia?" repeats the man with a frown. "That'd explain a lot. She would've known we were coming for her."

"Why?" I blurt out, both me and the stranger ignoring Hiccups questions of the attack.

"Well you went missing in the middle of your mission," responds the man, as if it should be obvious.

"What mission?" I demand. "Who're you and how do you know me?"