In an attempt to save a boy from a pirate ship, Hiccup is struck by a cannonball and left injured and bedridden. Meanwhile Snotlout is sick of being treated like he's stupid by the other riders and befriends the boy, but no one trusts him, especiall...
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A young boy named Josh, of about sixteen years old, with flaming red hair and an Irish accent, is lying in the hold of the pirate ship that had homed him for six years, chained up beyond movement.
Despite the conditions, he is extremely grateful to be able to rest.
He had been told he is here as a punishment for dropping six bottles of ale. It was true he had, but he knows the real reason is not that one mistake – they were not a rich pirate ship, in fact they were very poor right now. Back in the day, they had always had enough food, they had more men, they were set, but recently the money had become scarce, and they had sold, or thrown many men overboard. Josh was useful and hardworking, that's why he had been kept on board this long but conditions were getting worse. Josh became less of a necessity and more of a nuisance. They had fed him less and less until he was too weak to carry those bottles of ale after a day of work. That's when they had decided it was time.
He knows what is coming and he awaits his fate in silent acceptance, only shedding tears for the knowledge that he will never get to meet his sister. He will never get to see his mother again. He will never be with his father again.
He silently prays for the last time, he prays to God that his father got away and was reunited with his mother, and that his mother had survived and been able to take good care of his sister, and that his sister would not be lonely as he had been. He also prays that his family would not be sad for him, that they could be happy and meet again in heaven.
He lays here for a day and a night and another half of a day before the hatch opens up.
The man who opened the hatch is big and muscly and wears a red bandana, and if Josh could be bothered to open his eyes, he would identify him as Binetuc.
Binetuc ignores the fact that Josh is lying so still because he knows that Josh, despite himself, wouldn't let himself die before his execution, and grabs the chain to drag him out of the hold and onto the deck.
Binetuc shoves Josh in front of the captain, and goes off to get something...
"So swabbie, has it really come to this?" The captain asks down at Josh. After six years of working on the ship, no one had asked for his name.
"After serving us well for so long, you just had to go and make a fatal mistake."
"I know it's not the ale you're worried about captain." Josh spits out, his voice sounding like poison to the ear. "You're broke, and getting rid of everyone is your best solution. You were waiting for me to slip up."
The captain laughs. "I know. You always were a feisty one boy. You have no idea how long I have wanted to do this. Ye be the rudest, most useful, insulting, hardworking swabbie I ever had. You've been rewarded, and now it's time to be punished."
