Captain Fury: Pirate of Berk

22: Stealing Hope

Stealing Hope

Astrid was footsore when she arrived in the lower town, her arms aching because she had carried the little shape of Arild all the way from the Hofferson mansion in their ancestral lands, a long way north of the town. She stared at the docks-and then frowned. It was very late and by rights, all she should be seeing was the occasional stern light of the moored vessels and the deck lights of the more distant naval ships in their deeper moorings. But instead, she could see the Night Fury was lit with lanterns and men were swarming up and down the mast, rigging and sails, working industriously. It seemed like Magne Jorgensen was going to use Fury's ship to rebuild his fortunes. She scowled: she would rather it was at the bottom of the sea than in his hands, rather Hiccup's beloved 'old girl' was dead than enslaved like her master... Then she paused as her gaze trailed over the workers: she could have sworn she saw the twins fighting over a hammer. She paused and peered closer, eyes narrowing and head tilting as her eyes focussed on the industrious shapes, recognising Sven One, Jorgen, Bjarne, Mulch...and Fishlegs. The crew were on the ship. And that meant...they were going after Fury.

She strode out with new purpose, the sleepy shape of Arild in her arms. Her eyes were fixed on the ship as she began to walk through the clusters of houses in the lower town, the poorer areas closer to the cliff and the ramp to the docks. She held Arild tighter and bunched her fist: there was something about the dimly-lit, narrow streets that made her nervous. And then a hand snaked out from the shadows and hauled her in. She gave a gasp and began to struggle.

"Shh, Astrid! We don't have much time!" the voice was strained and worried. Astrid's eyes adjusted to the gloom and saw the outline of a stocky shape, of pale skin and dark hair and concerned eyes.

"Snotlout?" The Governor's nephew and Heir sighed.

"SHH!" he hissed. "I'm not sure if Magne and his thugs have been alerted yet, but they will. My brother is an evil bastard and he wants to Night Fury to renew his fortunes-and take illicit cargos north."

"North? But the only thing north is..."

"Drago," Snotlout said quietly. "After the Trial, I started doing some digging. I still have access to Jorgensen Shipping as well as the Governor's office. Hel, I'm nowhere near as smart as Hiccup but once he clued me in, I got thinking...how could Lord Hofferson get Berkian weapons to Drago? And then there was only one option. My greedy, amoral, vicious brother. And I found the proof. Yeah-your Dad is a traitor...but so is my brother."

She stared at him. Snotlout had been a bully to Hiccup when he was small but about the age of eight, that had changed and the older boy had protected his scrawny little cousin from his vicious younger brother. The two had been close and she knew Hiccup trusted him with his deepest secrets. Snotlout was honest and his tone showed how depressing he found his younger brother's betrayal.

"I'm sorry," she said. He gave a wan smile.

"Yeah, me too," he sighed. "Look-my father is blaming me for Magne's incompetence in bankrupting our business. He blames me for not putting the Berk Navy at his personal disposal when there are far more important uses for our protection than helping my bastard brother line his pockets! And what have I got left? Stoick is Governor...but do I want to spend my life fighting off Lord Hofferson and Magne? Or should I do what I have been thinking about every minute since that trial and go get my cuz before he gets killed?"

She stared at him in utter shock. "I-I...I'm leaving as well," she admitted and looked at the little shape curled into her shoulder. "Eret is going to kill Arild. He attacked me and the boy intervened. I'm sure I could have taken him...but the coward had a retainer haul me to my room while he attacked the boy. He's broken his arm..." Snotlout peered as a stray beam of moonlight hit the pale face and revealed the boy's horrible welts. He grimaced.