Tampered With (HTTYD Fanfic)

Awakening

It was quiet outside. Or at least, it had been. As life began to seep back into her body, sounds of other life crawled into her conscience. Wood bumping, liquids sloshing, metal clinking. There was a quiet chatter among female voices, and the slight sound of a pulley.

She opened her eyes. She was in a cave. The spacious chamber was brightly lit, due to several windows on one side, and a large doorway to the right of them. Sunlight filtered through the rock, and the girl could feel the breeze from outside through the doorway. She pushed herself up on the wood board she was lying on.

A hand came to rest on her shoulder. The girl looked over to see a pretty face staring back at her. The new woman had big brown, curious eyes, that perfectly matched the wavy brown tresses that framed her face. She was wearing a simple black shirt, that was tucked into sleek maroon leggings, - held up by a thick brown leather belt - that ended in her tan-colored boots. A gold medallion hung around her neck, and on it, was an eclipse with a sword and axe running through it.

“Are you feeling better, Astrid?” the stranger asked.

Astrid. The name bounced through her skull, echoing and reverberating. That must be my name. It sounded right to her.

“Feeling better?” she voiced aloud. “Feeling better from what?”

A look of shock flashed across the other girl’s face, but it was so brief, Astrid figured she must’ve imagined it. Instead, the newer girl’s expression took on one of sympathy.

“You really don’t remember.” She said it like a statement, but to Astrid, it sounded like a question.

“What am I supposed to remember?” Astrid asked.

“Anything?” the girl tried. “Or everything?”

Astrid thought for a moment. I feel fine, but what was I hurt from? She racked her brain, trying to come up with a reason, but kept coming up empty-handed. There was nothing there, nothing to remember. There was an emptiness filling Astrid that she hadn’t noticed before. The absence of anything was a deep, dark void, and the more Astrid tried to find something there, the bigger the void seemed to get. There was simply nothing there.

No memories.

No past.

Absolutely nothing.

“I can’t,” Astrid said to the brown-haired girl. “It’s like there’s nothing there.” The new girl kept a neutral face, but Astrid could see a shocked amazement seep into her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she said after a few moments. “That must be terrible.” Astrid gave her a quizzical look. She was acting kind of strange. The woman obviously picked up on that and changed the subject.

“I’m Gennis,” she said in a more light-hearted tone. “When you got knocked out of the sky by the Dragon Riders, Innova sent me to care for you till you were better.” Astrid held up a hand.

“You know that since I can’t remember anything, none of what you’re saying makes any sense to me?”

“Right,” Gennis said. “Uh, Innova is the leader of the Deceptors. You and me, are both Deceptors. We have been divinely tasked by Thor himself, to take the reign of Vikings further than it’s ever been before. We have a mission to take down the Dragon Empire, and to build up one for the Vikings!” Gennis explained all of this with an air of authority that Astrid was confused and intrigued by at the same time.

“To do this, we have had to collect the Seven Relics of the Dragons,” Gennis continued. “Unique objects that the dragons have protected, each pertaining to the Seven original Dragon Classes, Strike, Stoker, Boulder, Fear, Sharp, Tidal and Mystery. We have five so far.” She began to count off the objects on her fingers.

“The Stoker’s Flame, The Boulder’s Stone, The Fearless’ Claw, The Sharp’s Barb, and The Tidal’s Shell. We’re just missing The Mystery’s Scale, and the Strike’s Bone.”

Gennis paused and looked at Astrid. “Good so far?” she checked. Astrid nodded.

“Ok, going on, you were on a recon mission to fetch the Mystery’s Scale, when the Dragon Riders attacked. The Dragon Riders are a small group of kids who ride dragons – obviously – and they know about the Relics. They’ve been trying to stop us collecting them; they want to preserve the Dragon Empire. What they don’t realize, is that if they do, the dragons will eventually wipe out all of the Viking existence.

“So, while you were out, they attacked, and hit you with some weird substance. A mist or gas of some kind. Anyway, you blacked out, and I was told to take you back here.”

Gennis sat a little farther back into her stool and set her hands calmly in her lap. Astrid took the hint she was finished.

“How did you know that the mist might have something to do with my memories?” she asked Gennis.

“Well, here at our base, – The Hidden Isles – we do a study of some of the different chemicals in dragon breath weapons. We got a sample of the mist from your bloodstream and ran tests on it. We’ve yet to come up with any real potions, but Innova has reason to believe that the gas could mess with your brain. And it did.”

Astrid blinked and looked away. That would explain why Gennis had been so surprised when Astrid had said that she couldn’t remember anything. She had been unsure about whether or not the mist actually caused problems to her mind.

“One more question,” Astrid said quietly. “Is there a cure? Can we reverse what the… Dragon Riders did to me?”

Gennis took on somber expression. Astrid knew the answer before she’d said anything. “No. Not yet anyway. Our scientists are working hard, but we have yet to find anything that counters whatever was in the mist.”

“Don’t give up,” Astrid told her.

“Only if you don’t either,” Gennis answered. Astrid looked up at her. “Just because you can’t remember everything, doesn’t mean you can’t do something,” she told her. “Before you wiped out, you were pretty good. You can still help us out.”

Astrid thought about that for a moment. She probably could help the other Deceptors, and it wasn’t like she had anything else to do.

“Come on,” Gennis pushed when she didn’t respond. “We are going out again to find the Mystery’s Scale tomorrow morning, and we’ll need all the help we can get. The Dragon Riders are down, it’s the perfect time!”

What can go wrong? Astrid thought. If the Dragon Riders won’t be a problem, why shouldn’t I go?

“Okay,” she said aloud. “I’ll go.” Gennis smiled.

“Yay! First things first, we need to get you in some better clothes. Can’t have you running around in the Healer’s tunic.” Astrid looked down to see she was in a simple white tunic. She grimaced.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “Let’s change that.”
Gennis offered her a hand and helped her get off of the wood board she’d been on.

“Then we’ll get you on a dragon.” Astrid took a step then stopped.

“On a dragon?” she whispered. Gennis only grinned more.

“Yep. It’s fun, you’ll love it,” she encouraged.

“If you say so,” Astrid replied, walking again after Gennis, who led her out of the Healer’s Cave and to the left, giving Astrid the ‘refresher’ tour of the base, chattering the entire time.

Innova watched Gennis walk away with Astrid. She was pleased with how Gennis had performed and hoped that she would continue to hold under pressure. Silently slipping away, Innova hoped that the rest of her plans would hold as well.