Run and Hide

Chapter 20: Time For Truth

Chapter 20: Time for Truth

Hiccup

The appearance of Ryker as he came on deck sent my pulse racing with fear even more, especially when his heavy footsteps on deck echoed the sound in my heart. Closer and closer I could see him making his way towards me; it was an indication of how quickly I felt my own body start to push itself away from him. All the voices in my head were screaming to get away from him, get away from them as soon as I possibly could but, the tangle of me and Toothless underneath the net restricted my means of escape so sooner than later it was ripped away from us just as we were ripped from each other. Ryker's rough hand crushed its way into my arm as he pulled me up off the deck with ferocity. My body was pulled and suddenly held against him tight; their sign of definition to make sure that there would be no escaping for me. I struggled the best that I could against him as he held me in place watching as they tried chaining Toothless up, pulling him away from me. The cries that he would scream pierced my ears in agony understanding there was nothing that I could do that would help him. The burning sensation of tears wanting to escape my eyes the more I struggled to get to him, but it was absolute no use because Ryker's strength over weighed my own – I hated it. I felt useless and defenceless against everything.

Sudden pain; that was the next thing I felt take over my entire body. With the connection of Ryker's fist and my stomach made contact with each other, its force made my body feel completely limb with my body falling down slightly from a lack of balance. Everything around me started fade in and out, fuzziness started to cloud the edges of my eyes and every now and again all I could see was complete darkness. Whatever was happening around me felt like a complete blur, all the movement in front of my eyes were just clouded images which came into focus from time to time. The bright fiery colours would light up in front of me emitting heat which felt increasingly close to my skin; the sounds of the hunters firing their arrows and bowlers and their shouts to shoot them down sent a flicker of hope through my heart even if I could not see them. But that's when I did, that's when I saw her. The flick of her honey-blonde plait which fell neatly down her back, her amazing azure eyes which made everything feel better when you looked at them, her exceptional personality and aggression to get what she wanted. With that standing on front of me the sense of hope inside me got bigger and bigger.

Immediate goose bumps suddenly traced down through every inch of my body as soon as I felt the cold touch of a blade make contact with my skin. My vision started to clear up slightly at this point and there she stood in front of me. Her fists clenched around her axe tightly as possible, her aggressive expression written across her face which changed when she gazed upon me. When she looked at me, I saw the look of sorrow and a need of wanting to help. Though there was nothing I could do which would help her so. Standing next to her I now recognised to be Snotlout, who also seemed to share the same expression and enthusiasm as Astrid did towards their situation; I never knew that he had a caring emotion. I felt the blade be pushed further into my neck and my body tensed up more than it already was and at this point I was certain that my heart was pumping out of my chest in fear. "You guys suck at this," I recognised that voice all too well to not understand that it was Tuff and soon a laugh from Ruff. The smell of a ghastly gas immediately filled the air just before it exploded before our eyes. I felt my body tear away from the grasp of Ryker and instead once again hit the deck of the ship with great force. I felt my head bang hard bringing back the clouded images of my vision.

I wasn't sure if that mattered much to me at this point because, the feeling of my body being lifted from the ground once again was different from the last time. Instead it was more soft and gentle, especially within their touch; I knew that it was also rushed but it wasn't something I was afraid of, and it was something that I wanted to hold on to forever. A sudden lift in height I felt my body move and without me intentionally doing it I felt my head fall down into someone's shoulder. "Astrid go, we'll handle the rest of the ships!" I heard the voice of Snotlout cry over the anger of hunters and the growl of Viggo and Ryker. I felt the arms that were wrapped around me hold me tighter with comfort as soon as the words were spoken followed by a sudden hit of wind against my face. I looked up slightly, trying to open my eyes at the same time to see the beauty before me. Her expression of hope and determination to get back to the Edge was immeasurable; after everything that happened before hand, she...they still came and got me back. "It's okay Hiccup, we're almost there," I heard her faint voice echo through my ears as all I wanted to do was close my eyes and fall asleep. The voice was delicate and calming, I'd listen to its soothing for as long as I could but I couldn't because I did decide to fall asleep. Letting my body go limb once more, without the sensation of pain being inflicted I was able to just drift as her arms cradled me in further.

~

"How is he?"

"He'll be okay."

"I don't understand, why did Viggo and Ryker want him?"

"Or how did they know him?"

"Well one thing's for sure, he isn't what we thought he was and that's the important thing."

"Come on guys, I don't think he'll want you all stood here when he wakes."

"Why do you get to stay? We helped rescue him...Alright we'll go."

"Thank you."

A cold sensation was place upon my forehead while the rest of my body was emitting warmth from the material that I felt was placed over me. Weakly, I began to start opening my eyes. Taking in the surroundings, I found myself back in my own hut on the Edge, everything was how I left it, all my satchels dumped in the corner of the room when I decided to leave with the rest of my belongings scattered everywhere from my searching of the Dragon Eye. That's when everything started to flood back through, the hunters, Viggo and Ryker, the ship, and the escape. Immediately, I felt my body start to shake in fright at the thought of where I am, deciphering whether or not it was all a dream or if it actually happened. "Hey, hey its okay, Hiccup your okay, look at me," this soft hand unexpectedly touched the coldness of my cheek, turning my face to look upon them. I looked into the sparkle of amazing sapphire eyes which sent the message of home and comfort. The more I looked at her, the slower my heart beat became and I felt safe once again, I started to breathe normally once more and the shaking came to an end.

I hadn't realised that in the process I jumped up from the bed that I was led upon before she started to slowly help me lie back down. "What happened?" I asked slowly, questioning my thoughts wondering if they were actually true. "After we came to talk to you about the Dragon Eye the hunters showed up, you helped us get rid of them before you were shot down by Viggo and Ryker, they got hold of you and Toothless, it seemed that you guys had a connection of some sort, you obviously knew each other, before we came and got you both back and brought you back to the Edge, though on the way you kind of passed out," unusually, her hand traced itself down by own, in doing so she intertwined her fingers in with my own making my sense of comfort expand and my heart warm the blood which pumped around through my veins. "I'm sorry...this is all my fault," Astrid pulled away the cloth she was using on my forehead which had little specks of blood on it; that was probably from when my head hit the deck of the ship, before she looked down at me with great concern and questioning.

"Hiccup, why would any of this be your fault?" she looked at me deep in the eyes just as everyone else started to saunter into the room. My gaze drifted off towards them averting away from Astrid; from the corner of my eye I noticed she hesitated to look behind but she did sighing heavily when she noticed them all. "Guys please leave, this isn't a good time right now," though I had to stop her because I was taking the huge risk in my life, but it was the risk I had to take. "No Astrid, let them come in because what I have to say I think is beneficial for all of you, and I wanna speak before you ask me questions," Astrid slowly looked back at me; I nodded waiting for her to do the same just as everyone came and took a seat. It was weird looking at them all feeling like it was story time or something. "You guys came to see me about how I had the Dragon Eye...well I think it's time that you actually understand everything about me. It's time for the truth."