Treehouse Secrets

Taken

A distant thud echoed across the cold, hard floor, ricocheting into Oakley's ear as she awoke to a pounding headache. Someone was coming. She tried to stand up, but to her utter horror, she was unable to move her limbs, both arms and legs tied tightly. Her head ached as she struggled to assess her surroundings, finding herself blindfolded.

"Hey." She heard a soft voice coming from beside her. "Pretend you're still asleep."

"What? Why?" I whispered in response.

"Just do it."

I heard someone else approach and figured I had nothing left to lose, so did as the strange voice asked. The sound of footsteps approached only to disappear again.

"He's gone." The voice assured me.

I let out a sigh of relief and started trying to remove the blindfold from my face. It took a while but I finally managed to get it off. I scanned the room the second I could. It was a cage of some sort. Empty and not very big. Beside me was a young boy, no older than my brother, he had black hair and ice-blue eyes.

***

Hiccup and Stoick awoke to a loud and persistent knock at their door.

"Astrid?" A sleepy hiccup yawned as he rubbed his eyes. "It's the middle of the night. What are you-"

"Oakley's gone." She interrupted.

"What?!" He shrieked. "What do you mean gone?"

"I mean she's not here!" Astrid hissed. "StarGazer was tied and muzzled. I think she's been taken."

"Taken by who?" Stoick scowled as he approached the door behind his son. Astrid held up a stray piece of parchment she found at the scene with a rather distinctive crest on it.

"Alvin." Hiccup gasped.

"Sound the alarms," Stoick ordered. "Get the riders gathered in the great hall. Now!"

***

"Ah. Awake at last." Alvin chuckled as he approached the cage Oakley was trapped in. "I was beginning to think you'd sleep the day away."

"That's usually what happens when you club someone over the head." Oakley retorted.

"My scouts were right. You are a feisty one." Alvin noted.

"My father was right. You're a nutcase." She retorted. "Why me, Alvin? Why not take Stoick or Hiccup?"

"I'll be asking the questions thank you very much." He hissed.

"Go ahead. You're not getting anything out of me."

"Oh, is that right?" Alvin smirked.

"Don't bother with the threats cause they don't scare me." She warned him. "Now, clearly you need me for something. And you obviously need me alive of you would've just killed me while I was asleep so I'll ask again. Why me?"

"Huh, smarter than you look."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Sit tight. It's gonna be a long day." He warned. "Set sail boys!" He ordered his crew. Oakley flinched as the cage rocked.

"Oh perfect." She sighed, rolling her eyes as Alvin locked the cage and wondered above deck. Oakley immediately started wriggling in an attempt to get out of her restraints. She even tried using her powers to burn the rope, but it seemed to be made from some kind of reinforced steel or iron. She pulled her knees up as close to her chest as she could get and pushed off of the ground for a second, just enough to maneuver her hands under her to bring them in front of her. She started trying to untie her feet but nothing could get through that rope.

"It's no use." The young boy explained. "It's impenetrable." Oakley threw her head back in defeat, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Her face was turning pale and green and once again she wished she could be anywhere else. "Are you okay?" He wondered. Oakley shook her head as she felt her dinner climbing into her throat and her hands flew over her mouth. "Here." The boy kicked a bucket in her direction. Oakley shuffled around until she was bent over the bucket and let everything out.

"Huh, guess it was seasickness too." She thought to herself.

"Don't worry. You get used to it after a while." The boy assured her. "I'm Arrow by the way."

"Oakley." She explained as she sat back. "Sorry about that." She winced.

"Don't be." He chuckled. "Believe me. I've seen much worse."

"Did they kidnap you too?" She wondered.

"Not exactly." He said. "My father works for Alvin. I disagreed with what they were doing, so I became a prisoner."

"Do you know what they want with me?"

"Alvin in on a revenge kick. He wants Stoick to suffer for banishing him. He's had scouts scoping out Berk for months and when they heard about you, they were just waiting for the right moment."

"That's why they need me alive." She thought. "They want him to search for me and leave Berk defenseless. That's when his game really begins."

***

"Okay, gang. You heard the chief." Hiccup mentioned as they all flew east, beyond the boundaries of the archipelago. Astrid was flying beside Hiccup on StarGazer as he couldn't fly alone. "They could be anywhere so keep your eyes open."