Requests are welcome x
***
"So, tell me again why we need to talk to this guy." Hiccup said as Heather led him and Astrid deep into the Berserker prison. The floor they were on was practically empty, though each cell looked rather cozy. Since Dagur turned into a good guy he had begun to take Berserker hospitality very seriously. Their prisoners were still guests after all. She led them into a cell and before they realized there was nobody in there, she quickly swiped Hiccup's dragon blade and closed the cage door, locking both Hiccup and Astrid inside.
"Heather? What are you doing?!" They both shrieked. The raven-haired teen just smirked, twirling the key around her finger.
"I have a challenge for you." She proposed.
"Toothless, care to help us out, Bud?" Hiccup gestured to his Night Fury. He could have sworn his dragon shrugged before turning to leave with Stormfly. "Really? You're in on this too?"
"Sorry, guys. But the only way you're getting out of here is to follow the clues." Heather explained.
"What clues?" Astrid scowled. Heather just smirked and turned to leave.
"You better hurry. Breakfast is at 7:02."
***
Three hours passed Making it a little after midnight. Astrid had used the secret blade in her boot to attempt to pick the lock. It failed. She then tried using her years of training to pry the bars apart enough for them to slip out. It failed. She also tried knocking the bars out of the window. You guessed it. It failed.
"Are you gonna help?!" She exhaled as she finally gave up.
"I am helping." He said.
"And how is laying there, staring at the ceiling, helping?" She folded her arms in a huff.
"7:02."
"Hiccup, stop thinking about your stomach." The blonde hissed. "We have more important things to think about than breakfast right now."
"Actually, I think it's exactly what we should be thinking about." He mentioned as he finally sat up from the oddly comfortable bed he had spent the last three hours laying on and heading towards the wall on the opposite side of the cell.
"Care to explain what you're thinking?" Astrid wondered.
"7:02 seems like an oddly specific time for breakfast, don't you think?"
"Well, this is Berserker Island." She reminded.
"I think that was our first clue. Seven and Two. They were coordinates. Seven bricks across and two down. He pressed on that brick in the wall and it popped out, revealing their next clue.
" A pencil?" Astrid thought hard for a second. "The bed."
"You got 'bed' from 'pencil'?"
"It's a Heather thing. She always keeps a spare pencil under her bed. It's actually pretty useful." She chuckled, lifting the bed completely off the ground.
"Wow, okay?" He gazed in awe.
"Hiccup, you wanna stop staring and grab the next clue?" Astrid suggested. "This bed isn't exactly light."
"Right." He shook out of his thoughts, sliding himself under the bed and searching the frame for the next clue.
***
"Heather, you are a genius!" Fishlegs cheered. "I could kiss you!" He blushed, suddenly realising what he had just said.
"Shhh." She warned as the riders all huddled around a grate on the floor, eavesdropping on the two riders in the cell below.
"So, this thing between Hiccup and Astrid..." Dagur thought. "It's supposed to be a secret?"
"Hardly," Tuffnut scoffed.
"Yeah, the only people that don't know about Hiccup and Astrid are..."
"Hiccup and Astrid." Heather finished for Ruffnut.
"So, you locked them up?" Snotlout mocked. "That's never gonna work." Heather just smirked knowingly.
***
"Okay, we have a pencil and a piece of broken mirror?" Hiccup noted. "Heather, what are you trying to accomplish here?" He muttered to himself.
"She's making us work together. You're the problem solver and I know Heather."
"Okay, so what would Heather do with a mirror?" Hiccup wondered.
"I don't know..." Astrid scanned the room. "Wait, yes I do." She raced to the window, grasping the shiny object from Hiccup's hand as she passed. She placed it in the very center of the window ledge. Hiccup just watched in confusion. "What can I say?" She shrugged. "Heather has her quirks." The blonde backed out of the way as the moonlight bounced off the broken mirror piece and lit up a small hole above the cage door on the other side of the cell.
"When we get out of here, I'm gonna kill her." Astrid exhaled.
"You can try," Heather whispered from the room above.
"Need a boost?" Hiccup offered. He lifted her up as she reached into the gap in the wall. She pulled out a small roll of parchment and read it in her head. She rolled her eyes and snickered quietly. "Anything?" Hiccup wondered as his shoulders began to ache. Astrid tossed the paper back where she found it.
"No, nothing." She fibbed as he brought her back down to the ground. She let out a little shiver as the cold north wind blew in, sending chills down her spine. "Oh, here." Hiccup raced to grab the fur blanket from the bed, draping it over her shoulders. She smiled gratefully forcefully fighting back a yawn. "Why don't you take a break? I'll keep working on getting us out of here." Hiccup suggested. Astrid just nodded, sitting herself down at the edge of the bed.
Hiccup scanned the entire room, finally noticing the grate in the ceiling. He grabbed a few crates and stacked them on top of one another. He climbed to the top and detached his prosthetic leg, attempting to pry the grate open. But of course, Hiccup being Hiccup lost his balance and the tower of crates came tumbling down. Astrid leaped up to catch him before he hit the ground. He fell flush on top of her, forcing her back on the bed. "Uh-Are you okay?" He checked, worried that he had hurt her.
"I-I'm good." She stuttered, nervously. Her cheeks began to burn as she chuckled at the awkwardness of the situation. "Are you okay?" She replied.
"I think so." He admitted with a giggle. The laughing came to a silence and the silence only drew them closer. Their lips, merely inches apart. The warm breath between them was a pleasant contrast to the cold night air sweeping in from the north. As they leaned closer and closer, Astrid suddenly became acutely aware of the situation.
"Hiccup..." She rasped, gently pushing him up by the shoulders, biting her lip and looking at the floor, the ceiling, the bed, anything but Hiccup's eyes.
***
Continue for part 2 x
