Searching For You

Chapter 18: Clash in the Prison Halls

Annie was no longer flying East.

While she was on her way home she saw a small cluster of ships sailing across the ocean. Not only that, but she knew exactly whose ships they were.

Heca ships.

She knew that the Hecas were Hybrid killers, they always had been. Not even someone like Hiccup dared try and reason with them, lest they lose head immediately. Many of their people had already been shot down by Hecan warriors. So many of their best soldiers turned into trophies. It was a grim thought but it was the truth.

Once she saw the small cluster of ships she knew to keep her distance. But she noted that all of the ships were sailing toward Berk. Of course, she didn't know for sure that's where they were going, but decided to trail behind anyway, out of curiosity.

Soon, as she had speculated, the shops docked at Berk. To her bewilderment, these weren't the only Hecan ships on Berk. She even saw the atrocious Chief Boral himself.

' What are they doing here?' she thought. Surely Berk wasn't against Hybrids, were they. At least it didn't seem like that was the way Stoick treated her.

Speaking of the Hooligan Chief, he was nowhere to be found. She decided to investigate a little bit. She knew something suspicious was going on here and she wanted to find out what. She snuck around in the shadows staying away from groups of people. Nearly every person on the island had a weapon. She couldn't believe this was where Hiccup grew up. It seemed awful.

While she was sneaking around she still saw no sign of Stoick. She stopped when a few Vikings stood in her way. She reared back into the shadows.

"Can't believe those Berkians actually did it. Locking up their own Chief."

"I know, but you must say it's pretty great." another said, laughing.

Before they could even say another word she took off towards the prison cells. Of course, she wasn't sure where they were, she had never been here before.

It took her a minute to find them but when she did she quickly got to work.

"Stoick." She called quietly.

She was on all fours now, running down the corridor of cells. "Stoick." She called a second time.

"Annie?" Someone asked in the distance.

"Annie, I'm down here!"

When she finally reached his cell she was relieved to find he looked for the most part okay.

"Annie, what are you doing here? It's not safe."

"I saw the Heca's ships coming toward Berk, and I decided to follow them. Now I'm glad I did. What happened?"

"Wish I could say, lass. I came back and immediately got thrown down here. I knew I couldn't leave Spitelout in charge. I leave him for two days and he goes and makes an alliance with another tribe."

Annie cringed slightly. "Listen to me Annie, you have to go. If they see you they will kill you."

"No, Stoick, I can't just leave you here. I'm getting you out of here."

Immediately she tried to pick the lock on the gate, having no key. After trying for a couple minutes to no avail she saw this wasn't going to be easy.

But what she didn't see was the people coming up behind her.

Stoick looked up and saw the men approaching her.

"Annie, watch out!"

But it was too late. They grabbed her wrists and held them behind her. But she wasn't going down without a fight. She whirled around and punched one of them right in the gut, hard. He doubled over in pain. She took the opportunity and kicked him in the head knocking him into an unconscious heap on the ground. Another man was charging at her. She grabbed hold of her bow and drew an arrow back, quickly releasing it. It made its mark deep in the man's shoulder making him stumble back. She releases another arrow that meets its mark in his gut. Survival was not high for this man.

Stoick was impressed with her fighting skills. It all happened so suddenly. But he knew better than to underestimate someone's fighting skills just because they're a woman. Hell, even some of his own best warriors were women.

But, Annie was on a whole other level. She was making it clear she was in control of the situation. Men were falling down with blood staining their hands and clothes. Bruises quickly form on their faces. Some looked dead. Annie may seem sweet and innocent on a daily basis. But on the battlefield she was merciless. And a lot of times that was a good thing.

It meant she could do what needed to be done. But Annie was still one person against many warriors who continued to run down the hall. She was getting tired of fighting Vikings who were twice, and sometimes even three times, her size.

She may have had experience but there were still so many of them. Stoick continued trying to bust down the gate to help her. Anyone who unfortunately came too close to Stoick in the cell was sure to get thrown to the ground.

One of the Hecan guards managed to come up behind Annie while she was focused on the people in front of her and grabbed her harshly by her shoulders. He pushed her to her knees and threw her bow away from her. She tried to fight against his grip but failed. She was exhausted.

He threw her into the cell next to Stoick, not daring to open Stoick's cell.

Annie laid against the wall watching the men leave. One looked in her direction and spoke.

"The Chief will know wa' to do with you later. But for now, you'll stay here, where you belong."

She growled at him.

"Annie, are you okay?"

"Yeah.... yeah, I'm fine. Just a little shaken is all."

She had no real injuries. Just a few cuts and bruises. "I'm sorry Annie. It's my fault you're in this mess."

"No, I'm the one who thought it would be a good idea to take on an entire hoard of Hecan soldiers. I'm lucky they didn't kill me right then and there. Guess they'll deal with me later."

"No, Annie. I will get us out of here. I won't let them hurt you."

She felt a sweet smile grow on her face. She wasn't sure why she ever doubted his honesty. He wasn't like the other people on the island. He actually cared. It probably had something to do with his love for his own son. Speaking of Hiccup, she still didn't know where he was. The one thing she was sent out to do.

"You know Stoick, your son really misses you."

Stoick was a bit surprised by this sudden change of subject.

"Oh really? I figured he would just forget about me and move on with his life." He said with a chuckle.

"It's the opposite actually. He would always tell us about you and your strength and leadership. He always looked up to you. Always wanted to make you proud."

Stoick felt a warm feeling inside that cheered him up despite their situation.

"Well, that's no surprise. Hiccup would always do anything so people would be proud of him. All his life that's all he wanted. Unfortunately, I wasn't the father he needed."

"He mentioned that as well." Stoick winced. "But he also told me how you did everything in your power to make it right. And he was very grateful for that, even if he never told you. Over the past three years, he's done a lot for us. Keeping us safe, fighting for us, and overall just trying to make our living situation better. Part of me believes that it was a way to try and forget what happened. Well, to forget, and to try to make a distraction from it. Deep down he always wanted to go back, but he knew he couldn't do that."

Stoick was glad that Hiccup had thought about coming home, not wanting to truly say goodbye.

"I always hoped I would see him again, at least once."

"I'm sure you'll get that chance."