Open Eyes

Astrid woke to the swaying of the ship beneath her. A near complete darkness greeted her as she opened her eyes. The sound of sleeping beings filled the confined space. Apprehension filled her as she slid her feet out of the comfort of the furs and onto the cool wooden decking. Unsure of what was going on, she crept across the room only pausing when a board let out a loud creak. Holding her breath and looking around, the sounds of sleep continued to fill the space. Resisting the urge to sigh, she slowly let the air from her lungs; continuing forward, hand out stretched in the hopes of finding a door or wall.

Feeling the cold, curved surface of a metal door handle, she turned it as slowly as possible, only to have the latch inside release with a metallic thud. Suddenly, the snoring stopped, sending a shiver down her spine. She yanked the door open and dashed up the stairs into the blinding light. Stopping at the top, her eyes adjusted and the frigid ocean breeze chilled her through her shift. The scene she found chilled her blood. She stood in the doorway, frozen, watching the monstrous crew that had attacked Berk work the ship. The sound of steps behind her made her whirl around. She could just barely make out the mask of Wingless down in the shadows from where she had just fled. Rage boiled up inside of her, filling every fiber of her being. Red crept into her vision as she leapt from the top stair at him, screaming, "You Dishonorable Bastard!"

Looking up at the soring Astrid, Wingless braced himself for the blow. Grabbing her in her attempt to tackle him, he launched her back into her cot.

With the wind knocked out of her, she scrambled off her back, heaving deep breaths. Giving the approaching man a death glare, she snarled, "What do you want with me?"

With an infuriating calmness, he answered. "To show you how wrong Berk and so much of the world are about monsters, dragons, and many other things you consider to be evil, just because they are unknown to you."

"Ha. You're wasting your time then, you self-righteous fool. Everyone already knows that monsters and dragons only exist to torment the lives of the living."

He gave her a look that clearly showed his contempt for her words. "You do realize that, besides the two of us, there are only three other humans on this ship. Oh, and there are three dragons in the room around you."

On cue, one of the large beasts moved in the shadows, placing its self behind her. Astrid felt the blood drain from her face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that, with the exception of four crewmen and a technical prisoner, everyone from captain to cabin boy, is a monster, by your definition. I also mean that all of these monsters that you all condemn, are no different than you and I when you get to know them. I have learned this by living with them for the last eight years. Now, I suggest you take a moment and calm yourself before you leave here; the crew is not as gentle with prisoners as I have been." With that callous statement hanging in the air, Wingless turned and continued up the stairs, the Nightfury and Toxic Nightshade following him almost silently.

She sat, silent, on the bed dwelling on what he had said, as well as what had happened. How could someone live on this ship of monsters for eight years and survive? The stories of trolls eating you if you lingered under a bridge, orcs who would love to tear out your liver and make you watch as you eat it, and dragons! It was all too much to even try and figure out. Surely, this Wingless character was just trying to scare her, and the crew was all dress up and tattooed, to make them seem like monsters. That's what it had to be.

But that didn't answer why this pirate had taken her prisoner. She was of no obvious value, and there were no secrets or anything for her to spill. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Astrid began to look at what little of the room she could from the light pouring through the open doors. It was obvious that he was a book worm, and book worms loved to trick people; her grandad had always told her. Confidence in her assumptions restored, Astrid got up from the bed and more closely examined the shelves that lined the walls. Most of the titles were in languages she didn't recognize, or had no title at all; just a symbol or blank binding. After a good hour of looking, she ran across a lantern and striker that had been set on a small table near a book shelf.

Using her new found light, she was able to see the rest of the room. As she turned around, she had to choke back a scream. There, maybe two strides away at most, lay the Skrill. Its chest rose and fell in the slow motions of sleep. Doing her best to calm herself, she went over to the large desk across the room and began to look through the strewn contents. The first few papers she discovered were strange drawn out designs, similar to those that Gobber kept hanging in the forge, in Hiccups memory. Under those papers was, what appeared to be a book of dragons, like the one that she had used when she attended the dragon academy. Flipping it open, she was shocked by how much was written on the pages. All of the work on the desk was written in the same hand. Getting frustrated by the lack of understandable information, she began shuffling through the papers and books, pushing them to one side or the other. Her digging uncovered a map of Berk, as if seen from the clouds. The individual houses and buildings, labeled by occupant or business. As she studied the map its date became more apparent. Incorrectly labeled homes and the location of the current forge, told her it was at least six years out of date, and the paper itself looked old.

When she went to set it back down, she saw a small book with a belt around it. Bits of paper and other odds and ends stuck out from the edges, and the lock on the front reminded her of the kind seen on the mainland's temple chests. Picking it up, she could see the faint out line of an embossed name on the cover: Hiccup Horrendous. Even so, she could have easily been able to figure out whose book this was. It answered how Wingless new so much about Berk, but it didn't answer why he took her. Setting the book back down on the desk, she decided that maybe she should try to think her way out of this.

Taking the lantern with her to the doors, she snuffed it and sat it by the door frame before continuing above deck. The sun had begun to set, lighting the clouds aflame; the crew of the ship had calmed down significantly since the last time she had seen them. Looking about the deck of the ship, it was obviously not a Viking design; its broad decks and three large masts made it seem like a monster itself. Slipping onto a stair case to her right, she climbed up to the deck above.

The sounds of scraping steel met her ears once she was able to see above the top step. Wingless was sparing the captain, who was using only his bare hands. She watched in shock and amazement as Wingless leapt at him, spinning to bring the saber into the giant's shoulder. With an unbelievable amount of speed, the captain side stepped the blinding attack, putting out his bare hand to the blade. The metallic scrape that followed made her eyes widen as she continued to watch them. The exchanges between them were nothing like she had seen before. Each blow from the Captain sent Wingless either flying or sliding back. While most of Wingless' attacks were blindingly fast, making the larger man twist and turn in all sorts of awkward angles. She had never seen anyone one on Berk fight like this and she doubted she ever would.

Astrid nearly jumped out of her skin when a smooth all most purring voice spoke to her. "It is so entertaining to watch them spar like this." A chuckle, "Wingless is one of the few people on this ship that makes Ironside work this hard."

Standing next to her, the feline woman with black ears that had talked to the Captain back on Berk smiled with amusement as she watched the match. Her ears and tail were still so odd to see. Now that they were closer, the somewhat more feline features in her face were more evident as well. Her eyes were just like looking into those of an excited cat and the way her feet were shaped like a cat on its hind legs only added to her feline appearance. The light vest she wore didn't hide any of her figure. The belts that crossed her torso and waist were covered in various weapons, the largest of which were two short swords that crossed behind her lower back. Looking at Astrid and smiling, the cat woman said, "I am Felicia, Wingless' adoptive mother, and Captain Ironside's wife."

She was confused by the statement, "What do you mean adoptive mother?"

Looking back to the sparing men, Felicia calmly answered, "When we found Wingless, he was nameless teenager floating in the water with that nightfury. At first, we though they were dead; but when we hauled them up, we found they were both barely alive. Ironside here took pity on the boy after hearing his story. Since then, he has raised the boy as his own since we have had trouble making a cub of our own; it was good for them both."

Astrid looked back to the two men who were now breathing heavily. If not for the strangeness of them, it could have been a Viking father and son. Swallowing her nervousness, she asked. "Why did Wingless capture me?"

Wingless looked over to the women at this question. "I have my own reasons for doing what I have."

Felicia chuckled at that. "Well if that's his reason, then finding out why will be a difficult thing to do unless he wants you to find out." Pushing herself off the railing, she strutted up to Captain Ironside, sliding a clawed finger down the exposed portion of his chest. She whispered something Ironside, completely inaudible to Astrid, to which Wingless groaned before indigently saying. "Really! I'm right here, you know?"

The cat woman wound an arm around Ironside's neck, before stretching across his chest. "Well if someone doesn't give you an idea of how a male and female are to act, then what will you do when you find a mate?"

Wingless sighed and went to the back rail of the ship, staring at the growing darkness on the horizon. Walking over to him, Astrid looked at his light leather armor and its metal plates. They hugged his form tighter than what any Viking would. The weapons sheathed all across his torso and the rest of his body made him look dangerous, even more now that she had watched him fight. "So did you learn about Berk from Hiccup?"

He looked at her and blinked as if coming back from deep thought. Finally, he shook his head and replied, "Yes, he gave me his journal, as well as the book on dragons several years ago. He is one of my best friends, and from what he told me about you and that village, I decided that something had to be done. So I'm doing it."

She looked at him, a little surprised. "So the attack on Berk, your wanting to make me see monsters the way you do, and whatever other weird things you have in mind are all for Hiccup?"

"Like I said he's one of my best friends. At one point, he was my only friend. So do you want to go through all of this the easy way, or the hard?"

A smug smirk took over her face. Taunting, she answered, "That depends on what the hard way is."

"The hard way is locking you out of my cabin and letting you deal with the crew on your own. The easy way would be to have me introduce you to the crew and have you work, live, sleep, eat, and shit with us."

Astrid looked out across the crew; the smallest of them still stood taller than she was and the largest was the troll from the attack. The blood drained from her face; she let out a defeated sigh, replying, "Fine, I'll live and work on this ship. But, in exchange, you have to take me to Hiccup!"

Wingless looked at her through his mask, his green eyes made her feel like she was looking at something wild as he said, "Good, I will gladly take you to him. As soon as you accept monsters the way they are. Otherwise, you won't be able to see him for who he has become."

My Loyal readers I do apologize for the prolonged wait but I had a literal life sized break down and have finaly regained enough of my self that my stories nor you will suffer from you for your patients.