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Snotlout coughed, wretchedly, sputtering water and spit onto the floor of the cave as he tried to replace the liquid in his lungs with air. It was sour, musty air, but he didn't have much room to complain– considering he was stuck about twenty odd feet under the ocean, in a pocket of air in an underwater cave.
How he got here in the first place was getting a bit fuzzy. Something about a ship, something about chains and cages and dragons. None of it mattered right now.
Snotlout panted heavily and stood up in the dark of the cave, squinting in an attempt to see, making to move forward– and felt his foot yank to a halt mid-step, tipping him suddenly and planting his face right back onto the slimy wet ground.
Oh. Oh for Thor's sake!!
Snotlout snarled out a shout of frustration, throwing himself onto his back and kicking out the leg that tripped him, making the chain that was connected to it jingle loudly.
As his eyes adjusted, Snotlout could see that a small cluster of electricsquirms on the cave ceiling was managing to light up his surroundings in an extremely dim green glow. And several feet away, on the other end of his chains, a small, sopping wet shape was lying on the ground, unmoving.
Great. Snotlout thought viciously. That's just great.
Did he have a sword? An axe? A knife? Cutting through the chains would be ideal but that was probably too much to ask of a simple blade. Not that it mattered– Snotlout wouldn't be above chopping through the runt's feet and hands themselves if it meant severing off his dead weight.
He checked his pockets thoroughly. Nothing. Wonderful. As if this day could get any better.
For all intents and purposes, Snotlout had had better mornings. Today he'd been kidnapped by Uglithugs alongside his stupid runt of a cousin, wrists and ankles bound with chains that tethered the two of them together, swords at their throats to keep them from screaming for help. Snotlout had expected Hiccup the Useless to burst into tears, beg for his life. Instead, that rat only stared stoically ahead, not looking the men in the eye, not saying a word even as they screamed in his face, demanding he fear them. Even as Snotlout screamed back at them, bit and kicked and snarled and threatened, Hiccup just stood there, back straight, eyes forward, mouth shut.
It was ridiculous. Snotlout was already in an embarrassing enough position being kidnapped in the first place, but the fact that this utter waste of space seemed more put together than Snotlout, well– it was a blow to his pride, to say the least.
But it wasn't all hopeless. Snotlout was smart, and a good strategist when he wanted to be. He could easily have figured out a way of escaping, if he'd been given another hour or two. Something brilliant and outstanding and brave, just as he was meant to be.
But then the storm blew in.
The boat had lurched with the wind, doused with rain and battered mercilessly by the choppy sea. Snotlout and Hiccup were left alone amongst the chaos of crewmembers desperately trying to keep the thing afloat.
Snotlout punched an Uglithug in the face, but his bound hands also yanked Hiccup's, and while the Uglithug did go down, it also threw his stupid cousin up against him. Snotlout then tried to make a run for it, only to yank Hiccup with him and send both of them into a heap right over the side of the boat, into the freezing water.
"I'm sorry," Hiccup had gasped, teeth chattering as he tried to keep himself afloat. But the waves shoved him beneath the surface of the water and his chains weighed him down, and not even Snotlout could keep himself above the water with eighty pounds of runt viking dragging him under.
It had been a good few minutes of struggling underwater. Snotlout managed to drag himself into a little cave a little farther down, a pocket of air his salvation, throwing himself into the dark–
And here he was.
He kicked Hiccup now. Hard.
"Get up, Useless." He snapped, throat ripping with anger. Water dripped from his clothes and down onto the boy's face, like tear tracks. "I'd chew through my own limbs if it meant I could walk out of here without you, but then I couldn't walk at all, could I?"
The shape on the ground didn't move.
"For Thor's sake." Snotlout kicked him again, harder this time. "Useless!!" He barked.
Nothing. Snotlout took a knee next to him, throwing his body weight roughly to communicate just how angry he was right now. Was Hiccup ignoring him?! He remembered the thousand yard stare on the boat, the clenched jaw, the stoic expression, deliberately unresponsive to their captors. He was doing the same thing to Snotlout, wasn't he?!
"Hey!!" Snotlout yanked him so that he was lying on his back instead of his side. The boy flopped unceremoniously, completely limp. "Answer me you…"
He trailed off.
Hiccup was entirely still. He wasn't shivering or shuddering or gasping. He didn't twitch or flinch when Snotlout's foot connected with his side. His cheeks weren't flushed, but waxy white.
Snotlout stared at him.
Hiccup stared at nothing.
And he realized.
Oh. Oh… Gods.
In only a fraction of a second, a thousand thoughts hit Snotlout like a capsized boat, freezing him in space and time.
He's… dead. Snotlout thought, distant from himself with shock. He's dead. I'm in a cave underwater chained to the body of a dead boy and I'm never getting out. He's dead and I'm alone and I'm going to have to watch him wither away until I follow him by dying of starvation and cold.
He's dead. I'm alone. I can't get out.
Snotlout stared at him, feeling his breath linger and ache in his chest as his body froze like ice.
Isn't this what you wanted?
Yes, but not like this. Not when Hiccup could drag him down with him.
Not like this.
Not like this.
Not like this.
"Hiccup." Snotlout choked on his name. "Wake up."
Hiccup stared at nothing, his face pale, his lips blue.
"Wake up." Snotlout leaned over him in the dim ghostlight of the cave. He forced his hand to move, grabbing his little cousin's face, feeling how his skin was cold as ice. "Don't do this– don't you dare do this to me–" He threw his head heavily against the boy's chest, blood turning to slush as he felt no heartbeat. "No– no no no–!!"
He had to do something. It had only been five minutes. Surely there was still time. There had to be time. There had to be. Gods, please let there be time.
Snotlout placed his palms over the boy's heart.
He had only learned this once. Once. A faded memory in the back of his head, a memory of Old Wrinkly demonstrating a trick to bringing someone back to life. Something about helping them breathe. Something about forcing their heart to beat.
Snotlout had thought it was a boring lesson. It sounded like classic Old Wrinkly witchcraft at the time and he hadn't paid attention to half of it.
But it was all he had right now. It was the only thing he had left and Snotlout was ready to try anything.
He started compressions. Snotlout was bigger than Hiccup, possessing enough strength in one arm than Hiccup did in his entire skinny little body. As Snotlout pushed, he felt the kid's ribs creak, felt how his body barely offered any resistance. He'd break him in half if he wasn't careful. Gods, Snotlout hated being careful.
"Breathe." Snotlout could barely follow his own order. "Breathe."
Hiccup wouldn't breathe.
Don't do this. Not right now. Not like this. "Come on, you stupid– breathe!!" Snotlout yelled, voice sliding in panic. "Breathe breathe breathe–"
Don't leave me here alone. Don't make me watch you die. Don't drag me down with you. Don't you dare. Don't you dare.
"Wake…" Snotlout lifted his arms above his head, and slammed his fists down onto Hiccup's chest with everything he had. "UP!!"
Hiccup jolted.
It was so sudden that Snotlout nearly had a heart attack himself. Hiccup choked, seawater flinging out from between his lips, and Snotlout shoved him rudely onto his side as he hacked and coughed violently, spitting up copious amounts of water from his lungs and stomach.
Oh for Thor's sake, oh for Thor's sake… Snotlout was buzzing like a nanodragon, utterly numb. Relief choked him like the seawater that nearly killed Hiccup.
He wasn't going to die here after all. He wasn't going to waste away chained to a dead boy. He was going to get out of here. He was going to be okay.
And Hiccup was too, annoyingly enough. You can never have two good things, can you?
Now that he was awake, he shuddered like a reed in the wind, pathetic and weak– but he may as well have been full of life compared to how dead he had been just thirty seconds ago. Hiccup sobbed wretchedly, clutching at his arms and shaking so hard his chains rattled. Snotlout considered kicking him again, yelling at him to get ahold of himself.
But… something stopped him.
If I break any more of his ribs, Snotlout reasoned. Then he'll die anyway and this will have been for nothing.
That's a good excuse.
Instead, Snotlout turned away from him, pulling his knees up to his chest. Back to back, they stayed there. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen.
There wasn't a lot of room to put between them since they were chained together, and Snotlout could feel the way Hiccup shook through them. He listened to his gasping and crying, waiting for him to wear himself out, not saying a word. Snotlout would never admit it, but he didn't think he was capable of forming any after what he'd just been through.
It took a little while. But, eventually, Hiccup's sobs died into raggedy, hiccupy breaths. Fitting description, considering the state he was in.
"Are you done?" Snotlout asked, coldly.
A beat.
"Yes." Hiccup croaked.
Another beat.
"Thank you." Hiccup whispered.
Snotlout's fingers clenched into his forearms.
"I didn't do anything." He hissed. "Do you hear me? I would never save your life. Not in a hundred years. Not even if it killed me."
Oh, the lie was palpable considering what Snotlout had just done. But Hiccup did not reply. He'd gone completely silent. Snotlout turned his head over his shoulder to peek at him– and noticed the kid had gone still again.
"Hey!!" Snotlout practically jumped on him, checking his breathing. He'd only passed out. "Hey, no, get back here." He gave his tiny face several small slaps until he roused again, blearily. "Stay awake. You stay awake."
Hiccup nodded mutely, tiredly.
"As much as I'd love to leave you," Snotlout told him harshly. "And believe me, I would love to leave you… we're stuck together for the time being. If you die, I die. So you stay awake. You hear me?"
Hiccup nodded again, gaze slipping all about as though he was having a hard time focusing. They were only a brisk swim from the nearest Peacable shore, but Snotlout knew if he tried to get him into the water right now that they'd both definitely drown. They'd have to wait a bit longer, to rest.
Absolutely ridiculous. Snotlout thought, bitterly, because Snotlout hated waiting and hated resting and would rather be doing literally anything else right now.
But… this was admittedly better than chewing off his own limbs. So he shut his mouth with a clack, folded his legs into a crossed position, and sat beside his cousin.
Snotlout's eyes adjusted fully to the dark, allowing him to take in the full beauty of electricsquirms far above his head, like an underground night sky. The cave was littered with columns and drippy pointed stones, a rocky cavern floor as wet and slimy as the inside of a dragon's mouth. It was cold, too. A little chill never killed Snotlout… but it might kill Hiccup.
Annoying, he thought, more tiredly now than anything else, and with a sigh, he shed his soggy waistcoat and dropped it haphazardly on top of the little runt. Hiccup barely registered it, still blinking wearily as he tried to come back to his senses.
In five minutes, he would start to come back to life again. In ten minutes, they'd be up and walking around. In fifteen minutes, they'd have already swam back up to the open air, treading water around their chains, pulling themselves determinedly to the shores of the Peaceable Islands, where they could find rescue. The chief's heir and his next-in-line, the royal blood of the Hooligans.
But right now they were just two kids in the dark.
And together, they waited.