Saving You

Chapter 13

And there it was. The cave. Dark, eerie, mysterious. Hiccup grabbed a piece of wood, which Toothless promptly lit with a plasma blast.
"Wait here. I'm just going to check the entrance.," Hiccup said to the other riders as he began to creep into the mouth of the caves. "You too, Bud," He signalled to Toothless, who was standing to follow. He tried to protest- he hated Hiccup going somewhere alone were he could get hurt. None the less, he sat back down, and watched his rider's footsteps. All were apprehensive.
"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled, and Hiccup spun around. "Be careful." He promptly rolled his eyes, but nodded and continued onwards.
It was dark. Even with the light of the torch, the cave was entirely blacked out. Hiccup gripped is dagger even tighter, ready to pull it out if necessary. As he crept onwards, he felt his boots, I mean, boot, begin to feel damp, before completely sodden. He looked down. Below him, the entire ground was flooded in water up to his ankles. So this must lead under the lake where I shot Toothless down. He winced at the memory. He moved his head upwards, and was confused to see the walls tight close to him, unlike the large distance which was there beforehand. Glancing onwards, he noticed that the tunnel gradually gets narrower and narrower until it was almost too tight for Fishlegs to squeeze through. He held his torch up closer to the wall. there, he saw rock, slowly turning into brickwork, which was covered in fresh dampness and water mould. Looks new, Hiccup thought as he ran a hand along it. Slimy. He pulled his hand away to see that it as covered in the green coating. Great, He thought as he dusted some off onto his dragon skin fire suit. He suddenly felt a strong inclination to shout out for his friend, but he knew that doing so would only wreck his cover, and endanger the other riders. He noticed an out of place brick. He reached out to you hit, and as his hand made contact, a spear shot out from the wall, piercing the skin on his palm as it flew past him, impaling the wall behind.
"Drat!" He murmured, as he clutched his hand, cupping it to not let the blood drip. Worriedly, he considered why the guards weren't at the entrance, or stationed anywhere within. He wants me to come, he thought. Thor, am I that predictable? He sighed and decided now was the time to turn back, get the others, and rescue Tuff from that death trap if a cave.
...
"Hiccup!" Astrid hollered. "What happened?" The group raced over, encircling Hiccup.
"Fishlegs, could I get sone gauge over here?"
"You were gone for ages, son. We thought something might have... what did you do to your hand?"
"The cave," Hiccup began, ignoring Valka's question as he wrapped his palm in the bandage he had been given. "It leads underneath the lake at Raven Point. Inside is flooded, booby-trapped and pitch black. Everyone grab. A torch, and lets go. If Tuff's there-" He corrected himself when he heard Ruffnut gasp. "When we find Tuff, we don't know what we will be up against, so be prepared. He began walking. "And," he turned around. "Stay safe."
"You too, danger magnet." Snotlout laughed, but still looked terrified as he gulped, handing a twig to Hookfang to light.
"Alright," Hiccup said, a tone of determination in his voice. "Let's find Tuff."
...
"Ummm... I know you said it was dark and all, but Hiccup, we can barely see!" Fishlegs whined nervously.
"We're nearing the narrow section," Hiccup said, as he led the group onwards. Toothless let out a whinge of anxiety, so Hiccup stopped quickly to give him a quick scratch under the chin to reassure him. Suddenly, the path grew thinner, and Hiccup began to feel that the walls were closing in around him. Hm and the other riders squeezed through the gap which was the cave, but as Toothless attempted to shove through, his head got stuck, even though he'd thrust it parallel. He let out a groan of frustration and the other dragons began to yelp, signalling to the riders that they couldn't go any further.
"I'm sorry, bud. You're just going to have to wait here."
"But Hiccup-" Astrid began.
"Can't the dragons just blast the gap to make it bigger?"
"No, we can't risk the cave collapsing on us- especially not if Tuffnut is being led captive further along." Ruffnut sniffed as she listened to Hiccup's words. She knew he was right, but previously, she had felt comfort in knowing she had Barf and Belch by her side, if not her brother.
Toothless was not happy. Hiccup ALWAYS got hurt in situations like these. Without fail. This time, he wouldn't be there to protect him. He'd go into this alone. Toothless wasn't even sure he'd come out of it again.
"Come on," Hiccup waved the riders on, before anyone else had a chance to doubt the situation. Hiccup knew the situation was delicate and dangerous, and probably would have been helped with a Nightfury, Deadly Nadder, Monstrous Nightmare, Hideous Zippleback, Gronckle and a Stormcutter By his side. Never the less, he ploughed onwards, only hoping for the best.
...
They had been walking for what felt like centuries, careful to avoid anything which looked even remotely like a trap detonator. Everyone was tired, but didn't dare stop in case they were too late or encountered something that they weren't planning on meeting. Hiccup was still confused to why there were no guard in sight. Surely if Drago had Tuff hidden there, he would have protection everywhere? to if it was a trap... Hiccup shivered.
Suddenly, he saw a light not so far ahead of him, along with voices and footsteps headed in the opposite direction. He abruptly signalled for the riders to be quiet, and waved them onwards. He drew inferno, and lit it, passing his torch to Valka as he did so. He noticed in front of them a small stairway, consisting of two or three steps, which he climbed as quiet as you can with a metal leg. The others followed suit. There, was a row of cages, similar to the ones Drago had on his boat, where they found Astrid. If Tuff was going to be anywhere, it would be here.
...
*10 minutes prior*
"Looks like no ones coming for you after all," Drago sneered, as he watched Tuffnut stare at him angrily, slumped against the back wall.
"You'll never win this war!" Tuffnut bellowed, using a lot of the very small amount of strength he had. Drago laughed the same laugh he had when Hiccup was blasted by the Alpha's ice.
"Oh, innocent child, looks like I already have," He cackled once more, threw a flask of water through the bars, which whacked Tuff on the knee, and sauntered off, signalling for the guards to follow.
What if I never get out of here? Tuffnut thought. What if Drago's right, and they never come for me? No, surely not. Ruff would never leave me- would she? We always said we would live together, die together, then live on avenging Loki in Valhalla. She wouldn't leave all that behind- right? Tiredness began to overwhelm his thoughts, as he let his eyelids flutter shut, and let sleep overcome his body.
...
"Tuffnut!" Tuff bolted awake as he heard someone calling his name. He attempted to use his hand to push himself to his feet, but found himself unable to do so, as he groaned slightly, falling back down to the cold, stone floor. "Tuff!"
"Come on, bro, answer me!" It was a female voice this time. After a couple of moments of thinking, he finally recognised it. Ruff. His sister, Ruff.
"Here!" He yelled, as oddly as he could. "I'm over here, Ruff!"
"Tuffnut!" The voice could only have belonged to one person- Hiccup. This was proven correct as he and the other riders ran around the corner, and in front of the cage.
Hiccup signalled for Astrid and Valka to begin picking the lock, as they handed their torches to Fishlegs and Snotlout. Ruffnut was crying with happiness. "Tuff are you okay?" Even as Hiccup asked the question, he knew the answer was no. The blood dripping from his temple and arm proved this.
"I've been better," Tuffnut shrugged, as he used the wall to scramble to his feet and stubble to the bars, where he gripped tight, holding himself upright. "Thank Loki you guys are here. I was beginning to see yaks in my sleep!"
"Still the sense of humour I see," Astrid rolled her eyes and smiled, even though she knew the joke was terrible and not up to the pranksters usual standards. Ruffnut finally composed herself to run over to the cage. She swiftly punched her brother on the non bleeding arm.
"OW! What was that for?!" Tuff yelped, rubbing his newly-forming bruise.
"Don't... ever... do... that... to... me... again..." Ruff choked out between sobs as she hugged him as well as possible, through the bars of the cage. He returned it, trying not to wince about the pain in his arm as he did so.
"Almost got it..." Astrid said, as she stuck her tongue out, still fiddling with the lock.
"Where are the guards?" Hiccup asked.
"I... I don't know," Tuff stammered. "Where are the dragons?"
"Path was too narrow," Hiccup replied.
"Ah."
"We can catch up later. As soon as Astrid picks the lock, get ready to run. We will take you to Gothi as soon as we are back at the village" Or what's left of it, He thought. Suddenly, the lock popped clean open. "Come on guys, let's get it of here." Fishlegs and Snotlout ran into the cage, giving their torches back to the girls as they did so. They scooped their arms under Tuff's, and part walked part carried him out from behind the bars. The group began to run, but as they did so, they were stopped.
"Not so fast, Dragon Conquerer." Drago laughed, and his followers each pulled spears and swords on them, surrounding them in a circle of blades.
They were trapped.