Chapter Text
It's another day locked up in the brig below Viggo's ship. You've lost count of just how many days you've been locked up, but it's been at least a week. Your legs ache from the lack of movement due to being locked up and your wrists are rubbed raw from your shackles digging into them.
Rain beats onto the deck above you and drowns out your thoughts. It leaks through bit by bit and slowly dampens the floor of the cell you're in.
"Great." You groan to yourself and back further into the corner of the cell where it's still dry. "Hey! Guard! Let me talk to your boss!" You shout aloud to anyone that might be listening. "Guard!"
The dragons locked in the cells by Viggo's men growl and stomp in their cells next to yours from all the noise. Your head aches from all the noise and the lack of food and water Viggo's men have been giving you to keep you alive.
You perk up a bit when you hear the sound of the brig door being pulled open. "Everyone is quiet down here!" One of the guards shouts and bangs on the door of one of the cells.
"Hey!" You wince at the high-pitched noise that rings out. "Do you mind? There are people down here trying to be held captive in peace." You remind him.
The guard walks over to your cell with a smug look on his face. He rakes his ax along the bars and you try and cover your ears. The dragons start to become restless with the noise as well.
The guard chuckles and stops the noise after he's had his amusement. "I suppose that it's been a couple of days since we've fed you." He snickers. "And Viggo does want you alive, so here."
You watch from the corner of the cell as the guard tosses a small sack of food through the space in the bars. You glare at him with your head held high, but you know that you'll be on that food like a rabid dog once he's gone.
The guard walks off to toss some fish to the locked-up dragons then heads back up to the deck. You scramble for the food on the floor as soon as you hear the brig door snap shut.
"Finally." You sigh in relief at the food.
It's not much, just a couple of small scraps of jerky and a bruised fruit. But it'll keep you alive for another few days. The guard didn't give you any water this time, but you can drink from the dirty rainwater seeping through the cracks in the deck easy enough.
Another couple of days go by and you can feel yourself going mad being locked up. You pace around in your cell when the ship isn't rocking too violently to keep what muscle tone you can.
Eventually, you hear a commotion larger than most you've heard while you've been locked up. People bustle around above you and eventually, you hear the brig door open again.
You perk up once again and scoot over to the cell door, leaning your head on the wall, you wait for your visit from the guard. "Quite a commotion up there." You comment. "Have we finally reached our intended destination, boys?"
"Well now, I'm glad to see that you've still got a mouth on you." A deep voice replies to your quip.
You turn to face the door of the cell as Viggo, Ryker, and a couple of guards walk up to the cell door. Your heart pounds out of your chest but you keep your cool on the outside.
"Viggo, Ryker, what a pleasure seeing you two again." You smile at them both. "Tell me? What's it going to be this time? Will you strand me on another abandoned island? Lock me up? Or will you actually have the balls to kill me this time?" You ask the brothers.
You've known the Grimborn brothers for years now. Playing this sick game of cat and mouse with them. Viggo loves that you are one of the few people that can keep up with his intellect and Ryker finds your battle prowess to be interesting.
"Open the cell and bring her along with us." Viggo turns to one of the guards. "Y/N, my dear. I believe that it is time my brother and I try a new strategy in dealing with you." He explains.
You eye the guard with suspicion as he opens the cell door. You think about making a break for it. But even if you manage to get past Viggo, Ryker, and the guards. There is a whole ship of men above the deck. "A new strategy?" You watch Viggo. "Torture then? That sounds like a wonderful time." You force a laugh.
The guard yanks you up by your arm harshly and pokes his ax into your back. You glare at him but walk forward and past Viggo and Ryker.
The group makes their way above deck and the guard shoves you off of the boat and down to a sandy beach. You blink in the harsh sunlight. This is the first time you've seen it in weeks. The guard grabs your arm again and forces you to stop.
"What would you like us to do with the prisoner sir?" He asks Viggo.
Viggo and Ryker walk over to you and the guard and share a small look. "Take her up to my tent. Then feed her and let her wash up and change those filthy clothes." Viggo informs the guard.
"What?" You cough and try to jerk your arm away from the guard.
"Sir?" The guard shares your confusion.
Viggo rolls his eyes and repeats himself. "Just do it. Now! I'll be up there soon to check on her."
The guard reluctantly nods and drags you off of the sandy beach and up a small hill to a large tent. The tent is adorned with various smaller rooms and compartments in it.
The guard shoves you into a smaller room at the back of the tent where there is a basin to wash in and a towel to go with it. "Get washed up!" He barks at you.
"Don't get pushy, now." You stumble forward to the basin. "Well? A little privacy?" You glare at the guard.
The guard laughs at your request. "I'm not an idiot." He claims. "Now hurry up, before your water gets cold."
You mumble a few words under your breath and dip your hands into the warm water. The warmth of the clean water stings the raw skin on your wrists and you wince once again.
Despite the prying eyes of the guard, you clean yourself up the best you can without giving away your dignity. You relish in the warmth of the water and the feeling of clean skin as long as you can before the guard barks at you to get out. He presents you with a few pieces of clean clothes and once again guards the door while you change.
"You really can't turn around for a second?" You ask the guard again.
The guard snickers and crosses his arms. "Not a chance. Now get dressed." He glares at you.
You get dressed with some more complaints and the guard grabs you by the arm again. He harshly drags you out of the room and back to the main one that you came in. You find a plate of fresh and warm food waiting for you on the desk.
"Sit. Eat." The guard continues to shove you. "Viggo will be back soon." He informs you.
You jump at the chance to enjoy a real meal and dig in. The guard watches you gobble up your meal with verbosity and he scoffs at you. You ignore his disgust and relish in your meal.
While you're eating you glance around the room and notice all the various books and trinkets that are around.
A large book with what looks to be powers stuffed in various pages sits in front of you and you reach out to open it. "Don't touch that!" The guard instantly snaps at you.
You reel your hand back and glare at him. But the guard just glares back until Viggo comes through the tent door with Ryker at his side.
"Leave us!" Viggo dismisses the guard who obliges and walks out of the tent.
You perk up in your seat and grin at the guard, your strength slowly returning to you. "You heard him. Bye." You wave.
Viggo watches you sitting in his chair and walks over to the other side of his desk. You pick at your food and meet his gaze.
"I must admit, Viggo. I am liking this new method of holding me captive." You joke with him.
You see Ryker scoff out of the corner of your eye at your words. "I'm glad that you seem to be in higher spirits now that you've been cleaned up and fed." Viggo focuses on you instead of his brother. "I'd like to discuss business with you now if that's alright." He asks.
"Why not." You shrug and put your feet up on his desk. "What can I do for you, old friend?"
You're not sure what Viggo's game is here. But if there's a chance that he might just kill you anyway, you'd mind as well milk it for everything that you can.
"As much as I have enjoyed our little game of cat and mouse all these years," Viggo puts his hand on the desk. "I think that we can agree, the game does grow rather tiresome after a while, no?" He asks you.
A small smile plays on your lips. "It sounds to me like you've grown tired of losing to me, Viggo. But I suppose that you may have a point." You admit warily. "Where are you going with this, Grimborn?"
"You're a smart woman, Y/N," Viggo replies. "One of the more formidable opponents that I've faced over the years. But I believe that if we were not enemies, then we could be great allies." He explains.
Your eyebrows raise slightly in surprise at Viggo's words. You've been fighting with him for so long, you never thought that he'd ever consider the two of you becoming allies.
Viggo's proposal also manages to get a rise out of his brother. Ryker broods by the door with a sour look on his face. But you and Ryker have always hated one another. No respect or love of the game like you and Viggo. But pure hate.
You tap your fingers across the book that Viggo's guard told you not to touch and wonder what secrets are surely being kept in it. "And what does Ryker think about this little proposal?" You ask Viggo. "Hmm, Ryker?" You coo at him.
"Viggo! This is ridiculous." Ryker turns sharply towards his brother.
"Quiet!" Viggo snaps back at him. "We talked about this, Ryker. She could be just the ally that we need to expand the business. You know that."
You listen carefully to the brothers argue and weigh your options. With them distracted you could manage to disarm one of them and escape the tent. But what you'd do after that you don't know. You're on an island that seems to be deserted besides Viggo and his men.
"Are the two of you done arguing?" You put your chin in your hand and drop your feet from the desk.
Viggo and Ryker both stop their argument and turn to you. "Yes, my apologies for my brother's behavior." Viggo nods. "Now, what do you think about my offer? Are you at all interested in making a deal?" He asks you.
"What's in it for me, Viggo?" You ask him curiously. "I don't do anything for free, you know that." You remind him.
Ryker mumbles under his breath and you vaguely hear your name. Viggo shoots him a glare and he clams up after a second. You can tell by the way that they argue that this plan was entirely Viggo's idea and Ryker isn't a fan.
"I am proposing a partnership between us, Y/N," Viggo explains. "You're a competent hunter and smuggler if I've ever seen one. And we need a new front man for our latest fleet of ships. And you, my dear, are the perfect candidate for the job."
Ryker scoffs at Viggo's words but doesn't say anything about it. He chooses instead to brood in silence at Viggo's side.
You sit in silence as well and ponder Viggo's offer. Which sounds just a little too good to be true for your taste. But if this isn't one of Viggo's elaborate tricks then it's one hell of an offer.
Viggo's right about you being a good trapper and smuggler of unique and exotic items. And you've always been the type of person to look out for number one. The offer is sound. You'd never have to worry about running from Viggo and his men again. Plus you have to imagine that he and his brother have to be raking in quite a bit of cash from their business.
"You'd really trust me to lead a fleet of your men?" You ask Viggo. "After all that we've been through?"
Viggo nods with sincerity as far as you can tell. "Yes, I would." He confirms. "As I said. You're a smart woman, Y/N. Smart as you are beautiful. Think about it. All of those men at your disposal. Free to roam where you please as long as you check in every once in a while. As well as your fair share of the money we bring in." He lists off some of the benefits of joining him and Ryker.
"Right." You nod. "And if I say no?" You ask the one question that's been ringing around in your head.
A small smile plays on Ryker's lips like he's got a wicked idea bouncing around in that sick head of his. But Viggo doesn't seem to budge from his original idea.
"If you say no then we'll simply let you go. There's no point in letting you rot away in a cell for the rest of your life. I know that we'd never get you to break." Viggo explains. "Then I am sure that we would go back to playing our delightful little game of cat and mouse. Simple, really."
You nod, taking Viggo's words to heart. He might be a master at manipulation and tactics. But the man isn't a liar, that you know for sure. You ultimately decide that it be best for you to take Viggo's offer.
"Alright then, I believe that we've got a deal Mr. Grimborn." You stand to your feet and reach out a hand for Viggo to shake.
Viggo takes your hand and shakes it firmly. "Lovely. I look forward to working with you, Miss L/N." He states and let's go of your hand.
"Yes, I believe that it'll be quite the experience." A smile plays on your lips. "And what about you, Ryker? Are you going to stand over there and pout forever?" You turn to Ryker.
Ryker growls out a complaint but walks over to you and his brother with a scowl. He looks at Viggo before he turns to you and reluctantly holds out his hand.
"You'd better not be pulling anything with us," Ryker warns you. "Or I'll kill you myself." He grasps your hand and shakes it as hard as he can.
"Oh, I'd like to see you try, Ryker." You laugh at him. "You'll warm up to me, everyone eventually does." You assure him.
Viggo watches the interaction between you and Viggo and he recalls one of the many times that he's seen the two of you fight. For both a much smaller woman, you've managed to hold your own against Viggo many times before. Viggo's ruthless aggression and toothed sword against your graceful double sword style is a sight to behold.
You and Ryker stare at one another until Viggo breaks the match up by putting a hand on your shoulder. You turn to him and away from Ryker to see what he wants. "Come, Y/N. Let's get you settled in and go over some of the finer details of our new partnership. And I will be sure to get those magnificent twin swords back to you. I am sure one of my men back on the ship tried to take them for themselves." He adds.
"Thank you, Viggo." You nod at him. "Those swords are one of the only things that I have left of my home. I'd hate to lose them." You inform him of the importance of the weapons.
Viggo nods and walks back over to his desk with you at his side. "Yes, I assumed as much. Ryker, would you go and see if you could find them for us? And make sure that the cargo is being unloaded with care?" He turns to Ryker from his desk.
Ryker growls but nods and exits the tent in a huff. Viggo beckons you over to his desk from his chair and opens up the book that you've been eyeing up. You walk over to the desk and lean on the side of it next to Ryker's chair and glance down at the book.
"What's all this?" You take notice of the various manifests and maps as well as other papers wedged into the book.
"This, my dear," Viggo replies. "Is our livelihood. Everything from ship manifests to maps of dragon migrations routes and trading routes for other ships that are out and about in the area." He explains. "You'd be smart to memorize as much of it as you can, we don't keep copies."
You nod and glance over the pages that you can see. "Right, smart move." You admit and pick up one of the smaller maps. "I've been to a few of these blank areas you've got on here. Some of these islands are good places to catch dragons." You point to a couple of the blank spots on the paper.
"Is that so?" Viggo looks at the spots that you've pointed at. "I'll send a ship to scout it out then." He makes a mental note.
"Don't fully trust me just yet, Viggo?" You ask him with a laugh.
Viggo chuckles with you and jots down a note on a fresh piece of paper. "All in good time, my dear." He assures you. "Now, what more can you tell me about these islands?" He asks you.
You lean down and look over a couple more of the small maps that Viggo's got with him. You point out every island that you can remember you've been to on your travels and inform him of what you know about them. This is the start of a new era for the dragon hunters and for you. An era of raking in more dragons and money than ever before.