That Divine Beauty: Perfect?

Chapter 9: Déjà Vu

Hiccup's POV

Its the 5th day of the search. We left Dragons Edge yesterday and we've been flying ever since. The dragons caught some of the kids scents, but they lost it after a mile. We've been flying in the same direction since we lost the scents, hoping to pick them back up again.

As I look across the line of tracking dragons, I can tell they are wearing down. We need to stop somewhere to rest, but I haven't seen an island since we left Dragons Edge.

"Hey, Hiccup!" Astrid yelled. I looked up at her and our eyes caught each other. I'll never get tired of staring into her beautiful eyes.

"Yeah, Astrid!" I yelled back over the wind.

"I think Stormfly caught some of the scent again."

"Yeah, I think Windshear did too!" Heather yelled back.

"Okay then, everyone fly closer to the water. Astrid, Heather, you two follow the scent and maybe the rest of the dragons will pick it up too." I ordered.

We tracked the scent for hours before we came across an island. The island was very large and horseshoe shaped. It was covered with trees and lots of other greenery. Suddenly a sense of déjà vu washed over me. I've been here before, Astrid has too. I know she just realized it too. She caught her breath and turned around to face me.

"Okay everybody! Astrid and I know who this person is. He kidnapped Astrid back when she was pregnant with Aaron." I explain. Everyone turned and looked at Astrid.

"Its true." She sighed. "He locked me in a room, chained me up, and dislocated my ankle. Thats why I have a limp sometimes. It never fully healed."

"In the middle of the island, there is a huge waterfall. We will set up camp there. At night we will get the kids." I said.

I glanced at Astrid again. Her shoulders were slumped forward and her eyes were glazed over, staring into the horizon. I wanted so bad to pull her close and reassure her everything would be alright, but this was Astrid,  she was tough and didn't let her emotions overwhelm her. But I also knew that, sometimes, even the mightiest of soldiers reach their breaking point. 
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Abbey's POV
We arrived at an island late last night and we've been trapped in these stuffy, cold cells all day. It was starting to get colder in the cells so I knew it was getting closer to night, which meant we were losing light.

As far as I could tell when we first walked in, there were 6 identical cells in all, three on the left side and three on the right. Pandora and I were locked in the first cell together wile Hayden and Aaron were in the cell directly across from us. The cell was pretty much just an empty little room with one little window. It was composed of four enclosed walls of stone with a door on the first wall. We couldn't see Aaron and Hayden unless we walked over to the door and looked through its window. Why they decided to lock us two to a cell when there were six of them, I have no clue.

Since it was cold and damp in this cell, Pandora and I curled up in a corner next to each other. I haven't really ever had a chance to get to know her, but my brother likes her so she must be pretty cool.

"Hey, Abbey, how you holden up? Are you feeling any better?" Pandora asked.

"Yeah, much better actually. I even think the bruises are starting to heal. My right side's ribs still hurt pretty bad, I'm pretty sure they are broken or at least cracked." I replied, faintly smiling.

"Can I see? I was healer at my island, I may be able to help, or at least diagnose you."

"Sure, it may take me a minute to move so you can look, turning my body makes it hurt worse." I reply.

Pandora nods and I begin to move. I had to move slowly, carefully lowering my left side to the ground so I was laying on my side, facing the wall. I carefully pulled up my shirt. Pandora leaned over and started to examine my battered body. She gingerly touched my tender, swollen ribs. I sucked in a sharp breath which only made my pain worse. Even the lightest little touch hurt. All I wanted to do was scream out in pain, but I knew that wasn't the viking thing to do so I bit my lip until it bled.

"Sorry!" Pandora yelped with concern. "I didn't mean to hurt you Abbey... Gosh, I can't believe they beat you this bad. Your whole side is black and blue."

I nodded knowingly and slowly started to relax as the pain left. I heard rustling and realized Pandora was digging around in her backpack. I had completely forgotten she had it. Of course the men and searched it and took out her food and weapons, but they left everything else in there. She pulled out a big wad of bandaging wraps and moved back over to me. 

"The only thing I can think of to do, is to wrap your ribs. Maybe then it will help hold your ribs in place so they can heal back faster. Well, until we get back to Berk at least... Now, its going to hurt a lot, so you are going to have to bear with me." She explained. I nodded and tried to sit up, it was difficult, but Pandora helped me. "Here, you can put this in your mouth to bit on instead of biting on your lip." She handed me a thick strip of leather. "You are also going to have to pull your shirt off so I can wrap this around your ribs without anything getting in the way."

Carefully, with Pandora's help, I pulled off my shirt and tried to relax. I breathed in through my nose and out my mouth. I placed the strip of leather in mouth and got myself ready for the pain. Then, Pandora tried to carefully wrap my ribs. The pain was excruciating. I don't know if I screamed or not, if I did, the pain just masked it.

After what felt like forever, Pandora was finally done. I laid back down exhausted. I could feel tears streaming down my face. I hadn't realized I was crying, but I guess I was.

"I'm sorry I had to put you through that Abbey. At least use my lap as a pillow, that way you are semi comfortable." She said, scooting closer. I lifted my head up and placed it in her lap. She leaned back up against the wall and started to relax. I started to relax too and soon I stared to drift off. Before I could though, I looked up at Pandora. She was starting to feel like the sister I never had. She looked down at me and stroked my hair.

"Thank you, Pandora, for taking care of me."

"I'll always be there for you Abbey. I care about you and your brothers. We all have to stick together right now.... Now, go to sleep, you need to rest." She said, still stroking my hair. It helped me relax though and I soon fell asleep.
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Author's Note:
Well I tried to get this chapter to you guys last weekend but I had an extreme case of writers block and I got caught up in some drawings I was working on. Really Sorry but here is the chapter so...