Return of the Dragons (HTTYD Fanfiction)

Chapter 4

15 minutes later, the plane landed. The guards came in via a door in the back of the plane, and undid the chains that attached them to the seats. Unfortunately, they also had manackles on, which made it impossible to run. The guards led them to the plane exit door, then paused. A second later, the team was hit  with tranquilizer darts. They pretended to offer no resistance, and slump down, but they were all fighting it. The guards seemed satisfied, and took them outside. Hiccup, Annie and Christopher saw the sky for a second, before they lost consciousness.

When they woke up, they were in barracks. Their hands and feet were still manacled, but the chains were looser. Hiccup opened his eyes, and sat up. He pretended to be groggy, but in truth, he was scanning the cell. The floor, walls and ceiling were made out of a single sheet of metal. There were no security cameras, and no furniture, other than a bunk bed carved out of the metal floor and a box carved out of the metal wall. He looked around, and saw the others stretching too. But, like him, they were scanning the cell too. They all shared a look, and confirmed that they could speak unhindered in the cell. "Great!" Hiccup said, "This cell isn't the worst possible!"

Soon, Hiccup, Annie, Christopher, Sarah and Tyler were sitting in a circle, discussing escape plans. Hiccup took charge quickly. "Christopher, you got a glimpse of the sky. Do you know where we are?" "I do!" Christopher replied proudly, "We appear to be on a small chain of islands off the coast of Old Iceland. I know people have found islands here before, but this area has very low molecular hovering levels, so no one really goes here. The kidnappers must hide out here because of that! And they use airplanes because hoverplanes don't work here!" "Of course!" Hiccup grinned. "We could use that to our advantage!" Annie commented, "airplanes have terrible security! Our power, surveillance on functionality all depend on molecular manipulation, so we could probably steal an airplane pretty quickly." "And," Sarah added triumphantly, "We have this!" And she proudly presented a metal gear and a couple of wires.

There was a general chorus of amazement at the glinting metal in Sarah's hand. "Where did you get that?" Christopher inquired. "I stole it from the airplane!" Sarah said proudly. "This could be a huge advancement towards cracking the airplane security!" Hiccup declared. "We just might have the beginnings of a plan here!" Then, a rumbling interrupted their planning. 

Everyone looked around in confusion. Sarah inspected the walls, then proclaimed, "We appear to be moving downwards." "It's probably the work call," Tyler suggested. "Probably," Hiccup agreed. "Which means," Annie pointed out, "that we need to act very inconspicuous." At the reminder, everyone got into positions. Hiccup curled up in a corner shaking in fear, Annie collapsed on a bottom bunk appearing defeated, Christopher was hiding under the bed, whimpering, Tyler was collapsed in the middle of the room, and Sarah was in a top bunk, staring glumly at the wall. The act was impeccable.

Soon, the rumbling stopped. Then, there was a hissing. A blinding light traveled around the edge of one wall, until it met in a full circle. Then, there was a whirring of machinery, and a grabber pulled the cut metal out of the wall. Right outside was a guard. "Up and ready for work!" he barked. The team scrambled to obey. When they were assembled, the guard yelled, "Head down the catwalk and stairs until you reach mining tier 3! Then get your lazy, good-for-nothing butts off the ground and work! Do you understand?" "Yes sir!" the team shouted. "Good, now go!" the guard spat, and the team marched off to work.

When they exited their cell, they saw quite a sight. They were in an immense cavern, at least the 30 stories high, and nearly a small city wide! The wall they emerged from was lined with racks, each slot with another cell. All the time, new cells were coming down from the ceiling, suspended by cords, and being placed in a slot. Then, a welder bot would carve a circular hole in the wall, and a grabber arm would pull it out. Then the kids in each cell would go to the catwalk on their level and head down to the mining tiers. The mining tiers covered the other three walls, like moss to a stump. Each tier was a metal slab, where people stood and mined into the rock. Every so often, someone would extricate something shiny, and drop it in a chute. Everyone who did that got a short break. The floor of the cavern was covered with pots over powerful burners, which held an amber color. "Get to work!" Hiccup hissed to the others, and they hurried off to the catwalk. 

Their catwalk landed on Tier 5, not a long climb from Tier 3. They found the stairs, and headed to Tier 4, then Tier 3. They were greeted by a man in a tuxedo. This tuxedo was orange, displaying a lower rank. "Welcome, new recruits!" the man said in a sickly sweet voice. "I am here to give you a tour. Be grateful for this, as after the tour is finished, you will spend the rest of your childhood as a slave." He smirked at this comment, and it took all of Hiccup's self-control not to scowl. "Now, let's get on with it." he gestured to an empty spot on the tier. "You will be mining here. You will find your tools in the bucket in the middle of the tier. We mine amber here, a rare, sticky resource that is high in molecular manipulation cells. It also serves as a binder and an excellent encasement weapon. Bits of amber can be found in this rock formation; you will know when you hit it, as you will not be able to dent it at all." He led the group to the edge of the tier, next to a pipe. "If you find amber, put it in this slot, and you will receive a one minute break. The amber heads down these pipes into the forges below." He gestured to the floor, where the cauldrons resided. "The amber can only be melted in extreme heat, as you see below. After the amber is melted in the forge,  it is sent down pipes into the forges. The forges are where adults craft inventions out of the amber. If you are good, you will be sent down to the workrooms when you turn 18. If you are bad," the man smirked, "you will be a chain slave." He gestured to a pile of ragged adults, operating a conveyor belt holding amber creations by endlessly pulling chains. If one fell out of line, a man in a red tuxedo would whip them, and they would slave on. This method proved brutal, and there were many corpses strewn about the floor. Hiccup shivered. The man noted this with satisfaction.

"There is one final thing you need to see, to dissuade any escape attempts. Follow me!" He lead the team to a door, which led down a metal tunnel, and emerged in a barred window. "This," he announced, "is the transportation quarters." They all hurried over to the window and looked through. What Hiccup saw made his heart sink. There were airplanes, all right, but they were locked up, and used amber for power. Anyone who entered needed a jar of amber, and they could only be found on the conveyor belt, which was protected, and distributed privately to the men in tuxedos. Clearly, escape by plane was impossible. Annie's shoulders slumped a bit more, and Hiccup could tell this was genuine. "Right then!" the man said, "Tours over, get to work!" Then he spun on his heel, and walked away.

The team returned to Tier 3, and got to work. They slammed their pickaxes into the rock, creating hollow thuds. For the first hour, they got nothing, then Tyler hit something that did not budge. He hit it again, to the same result. He brushed away the dust, and took in a sharp breath. "Amber." he whispered. 

Amber came in misshapen lumps, but was pure of color. In the light it twinkled, and showed small, clear bubbles within. The lump Tyler discovered was the size of his fist, and warty, like a frog. One edge was sharp, as if it had been broken there. Tyler dropped it in the chute, and a chair rose up for him. He sat down, glad for the rest. Now desperate for any respite, the others slaved on, until they found each in turn found a lump of amber.

Hiccup's lump was the size of his ear, and smoother than most others. Annie's chunk was the same size as Hiccup's but slightly rougher. Christopher's haul was the size of a pebble, but with beautiful contours. Sarah's was the size of her head, with a spider web of cracks within. They each cherished their rest. 

While they worked, they discussed in hushed voices. "An airplane escape just won't work!" Sarah muttered frustratedly. "There must be some way?" Annie whispered thoughtfully. "Keep thinking," Hiccup hissed, "But keep thinking silently! The overseer of this tier is coming this way!" So they thought in silence. But they couldn't think of anything.

Each day was more exhausting than the last, and bit by bit, the team began to feel defeated. By the time a month had passed, no one needed to act slumped. After work, the collapsed in bed, and felt more and more miserable. Sometimes, someone would bring up the topic of escape. But it would die quickly, because no one felt strong enough. Then on the 33rd day, when the cell had been sealed, Sarah looked up, and smiled! "Guys?" Sarah inquired. Everyone looked up glumly. "I think I might have found a way to escape."