Found

Hiccup + Astrid

Hiccup's P.O.V

In the end we'd only managed to come across a dead end with no other traces of any secret passages that led to any new hidden rooms or halls. Oh well I guess  it was worth a shot. Astrid had made the decision that it would be best for us to get back before the guards walked back this way. I could tell that she felt just as disappointed as I did. There was no evidence of Toothless and the Nadder ever coming down here but I could of sworn that if Toothless could smell dragons down here, he would defiantly have come down no matter the threat. I ran a hand through my hair and exhaled in a frustrated manner. Astrid unexpectedly punched my arm once more bringing me back to the real world.

"Ow!" I exclaimed rubbing my arm with my other hand. "What was that for?"

She smiled playfully at me with her blue eyes sparkling. "Don't get so worked up over this ok?" she said. "Although we didn't find the dragons, we've ruled out one more place were they aren't and that's narrowed down our list by one more, besides if we hadn't of come down here we would never have found these dragons and if we hadn't of found them then they would have been left to suffer for more days and nights until..."

Her voice began to drift off to nothing as she continued to talk. More light covered the hall as we approached the cages and I could catch every detail of her face from her deep blue eyes, the faint freckles spread amongst her cheeks and her pale, pink lips. Astrid pressed her hand against mine where she placed a dagger in my palm. The leather handle was cool against my skin once the warmth of her hand had been pulled away. I raised the knife so I could study the sharp blade and intriguing design.

"I thought you may be needing it before I go," she explained.

I raised my face to hers and grinned thankfully, "Thank you."

Astrid laced her hands behind her back and rocked on her feet. "No problems but just so you know, I'll go ahead and wait up for you at the hole from where we came through, so you can...you know...do what you need to do," she responded.

I leaned forwards and lightly brushed my lips on her freckled cheek. "I'll be waiting for you," I whispered.

"And I you," she responded smiling sheepishly.

I waited patiently with my eyes watching after her until I could no longer see nor hear her footsteps trailing along the floor. I stood up straight and held the daggers handle tight in my grip. The first cage I had once again encountered contained an abnormally small Monstrous Nightmare that was surrounded by the corpses of it's few companions. It was difficult to tell how long the dragons had been deceased due to their malnourished bodies  but non were old. I studied both ends of the halls before pulling at the leaver alongside the cage bars. It was just as old and rusted as the rest of the metal you could find in this cave but to my surprise, once I pulled down on it with enough force, the leaver pulled down as well and the cage bars raised from the ground. Creaking a little more then I would have liked. The Nightmare raised it's head to the sound of the cage opening although that was about all he could do.

I stepped in carefully as not to disturbed the dragon but he didn't seemed bothered by my presence. He acted and looked at me with his dull eyes like I wasn't even there. My feet carried me until I could feel the Nightmare's hot breath on my legs, through the material of my pants. They were sharp, shallow breaths but still somewhat normal. Finally he tipped his scaly head up to get a better look at me. His nostrils flared as he became familiar with my sent and his unblinking eyes were locked onto my every movement. I crossed my feet beneath me and sat on the cold ground. The Nightmare's head followed me. My hands reached out to his head which made his whole body stiffen as his eyes glazed over in terror.