Ascendant

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: THE FINAL JOKE

Tuffnut came down to grab a handful of keys. "Welp I guess we should start trying them—"

"Impulsivity can get us killed, boy," Ruarcc told him with a hand on his chest in a threatening tone.

"I completely agree. In fact, I have a better solution," Snotlout told him before he slammed his axe into the wooden chest, causing a sharp shockwave that knocked him back and sent his axe flying from his grasp. It clanked against the stone ground with the blade complexly melted, as if it had been dunked in volcanic lava, the edges glowing bright red.

"Ow..." he complained as he straight to get back up.

"What the Hel is wrong with you?!" Astrid demanded.

"You idiot! Now you don't even have a weapon," Ruffnut said to him.

He growled. "I don't need one—I'll just show them your face and they'll burn alive—"

[GEM]

She roared and tackled him, attempting to slap him but Uriah came over and grabbed her with both hands and threw her off him. "Grow up! Both of you!" he said. "This behavior will get someone killed!"

Nov 13, 2023, 3:20 PM

[MELODY]

Moira had sat down on the stone floor trying to completely block everyone out as her eyes went over the keys noticing they all had symbols engraved into them. "..what?" She picked one up to observe it closely. She then turned to hiccup. "Does these look like the runes you use? If so is there one for loki? Or mischief?"

Nov 13, 2023, 3:58 PM

[GEM]

He furrowed his brows to take a look, Astrid peering over his shoulder. "They're Viking runes for sure. This one means 'laughter' or 'amusement'," he said as he held the key in his fingers, squinting to see it clearly.

[GEM]

"Well that's appropriate. The bastard's probably eating a porkchop while watching us," Astrid commented with an eyeroll.

[GEM]

"Did someone say porkchop?" Gregor said. If he was a cat his ears would have perked up.

"Stop thinking about your stomach and help me!" Arne said to him as he dug through the keys to find an out-of-the-ordinary one.

[MELODY]

Moira sighed softly thinking she had found something that would help them but once again Loki was probably laughing at them. "Well this isn't helping.." she mumbled looking through the keys as well anyways.

[GEM]

"I say we just start trying keys. I bet Loki hid the right one in here, knowing it's possible people could find it but also possible that they wouldn't," Faelan suggested.

"Or give up before they can find it," Arne commented.

Hiccup kept quiet and contemplative. But this sounded correct to him, gazing over the keys with a thoughtful look.

"Come on, lads. Grab a handful. Try them on both," Gregor said, waving them over.

Astrid shrugged and did so.

"We can't just stick any key in there. What if something bad happens if it's not the right one?" Snotlout said, holding his head now as he was frustrated.

Ruarcc took one of the keys and went to try it, volunteering himself to test this out. They key didn't open the lock to the gold chest but nothing bad happened either. He looked at everyone with a hand gesture as if to say "there, happy?"