It has to be admitted (reluctantly) that Snotlout fought with spectacular brilliance and bravery. His quick wrist made the Flashcut slip neatly in and out, hither and thither, beautifully performing the Destroyer's Defense, Grimbeard's Grapple, the Final Cut, and many, many more of the subtlest swordfighting skills. In the space of five minutes no fewer than three Outcasts lay dead around him,
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all much larger and heavier than himself. This is a schoolboy record that stands to this day.
I would love to say that Hiccup fought similarly splendidly. But I can't, because it wouldn't be true. Hiccup had dislocated his arm, remember, and his sword, the Stretchapoint, lay somewhere on the beach at the Isle of the Skullions. But Hiccup did what he could. With his quick left hand he picked a key out of Curly Horns's pocket while he fought Gobber the Belch. He used the key to unlock the chains of four or five Hooligans who had already been bound, ready for slavery, who then joined in the fight with the others.
Toothless created an extra diversion when he spilled out of the barrel, dizzy and confused, and bit the first hairy leg that he saw. Which happened to belong to a grossly fat Outcast, who promptly dropped the flare he had been carrying right in the open barrel of black-currant wine.
And Thor only knows what was IN that black-currant wine, but the entire barrel burst into flames.
The fire raged out of control.
The sail burned furiously, and thick black smoke poured over the deck.
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Everybody started jumping off the Lucky Thirteen in order to escape the flames.
Stoick belly flopped into the sea, and splashed over to the Outcast boat, the Hammerhead, where the pitched battle was continuing. As he climbed over the side of the Hammerhead, he turned back to his son and shouted, "Come ON, Hiccup!"
"Your f-f-f-father's right," panted Toothless, "w-w-we should go."
Hiccup hesitated.
Fishlegs was still aboard the Lucky Thirteen.
He was in the grip of the Beserk trance, and was following Alvin, sword in hand, hoping to kill him.
[Image: The Hammerhead.]
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Alvin had turned back to fetch the treasure. "FISHLEGS!" yelled Hiccup desperately. "WE'VE GOT TO GET OFF THE BOAT!"
But Fishlegs couldn't hear him.
"FISHLEGS!" shouted Hiccup, hesitating some more. "IF WE DON'T GET OFF NOW WE MAY BE TOO LATE!"
It was already too late.
There was a mighty C-R-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-A-AA-K!!!!!! from above and the burning mast crashed into the sea.
Stoick watched in horror from the deck of the Hammerhead as the Lucky Thirteen flipped over onto its back, trapping Hiccup, Fishlegs, Alvin and Toothless underneath it as it did so.
It then sank before his eyes.
And Stoick knew that this particular part of the ocean, despite being so close to the cliffs, was very, very deep, too deep even for lobster pots.
"HIC-CUP!" yelled Stoick in despair.
He knew that he would never see his son again.
For who could get out of that situation alive?
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16. AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN
Hiccup's first thought was that he was going to drown. He was turned over and over in somersault after somersault, down, down, down in such a rush that he felt like his head was bursting. A strange, calm sensation of no longer really caring came over him, and then he was roughly grabbed by the shoulders and dragged coughing and spluttering to the surface of the water and into an air pocket trapped beneath the sinking ship.
The boat was still traveling downwards with such rapidity that Hiccup's ears popped again and again, but at least he could breathe.
"My turn to save YOUR life," gasped Fishlegs.
"Oh yes," said Hiccup sarcastically, once he'd got his breath back, "and I suppose the reason I'm here in the first place is nothing to do with you? If you hadn't gone rushing after Alvin we would be on board the other boat by now.... Didn't you hear me shouting at you?"
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Fishlegs blushed. "Couldn't hear anything, actually," he mumbled.
"A fine time for us to discover you're a Beserk," grumbled Hiccup.
Fishlegs blushed even deeper. "Do you think that's what it was?" he asked shyly. He was secretly extremely proud that he had these violent hidden depths.
"Yes, I do," said Hiccup. "Anyway, my life isn't exactly SAVED yet, is it? It's not like we're tucked ,up safely in bed in the Hooligan Village. I mean, where ARE we?"
The boat finally stopped its descent and settled gently on the seabed.
[Image: Fishes.]
"At the b-b-b-bottom of the ocean," said Toothless as he floated by, crouched in an upturned Outcast helmet like a malevolent eagle sitting on a nest, his eyes glowing like candles. (One of the only interesting features of the Common or Garden dragon is that its eyes light up in the dark.)
"The boat turned over and we seem
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to be trapped underneath in some sort of air pocket," explained Fishlegs.
Hiccup peered up the length of the upturned Lucky Thirteen. Sure enough, all the benches were now the ceiling of what looked like a long, low, barrel-vaulted hall, with water for a floor. Chairs, oars and cushions floated by, but as far as he could see or hear, there was no one else trapped with them, no furious Outcasts or helpful Hooligans.
"Everyone else must have jumped off in time," said Fishlegs.
"Hang on a sec," said Hiccup, "somebody seems to be stuck under a bench down there. ..." He dived below the surface, his kicking legs swamping Fishlegs and Toothless in a small tidal wave.
He was gone for nearly a minute and a half. When he finally resurfaced, he was holding a very limp and green Alvin the Treacherous.
"What you saving HIM for?" complained Toothless. "He a r-r-rat. Toothless kill him, if you like," he said, cheering up no end, his claws extending towards the sleeping Alvin.
[Image: Fishes.]
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As if he heard these words, Alvin opened his eyes. His face crumpled up and he cried like a baby.
"My treasure," he cried, "my treasure. Gone, gone, gone. ..."
"We are not interested in your treasure," said Fishlegs coldly. "What about the fact that not half an hour ago you were about to put the entire Hooligan Tribe into slavery? Not to mention serving up poor old Hiccup here as a starter. If it wasn't for YOUR stupid treasure we could all be sitting in one of Gobber the Belch's classes staring vacantly out of the window while he bangs on about Frightening Foreigners."
"We can still find it," said Alvin urgently, trying to peer into the water below him. "It's down there somewhere, the ground isn't far beneath me. HELP ME everybody, and we shall live like kings. ..."
"Oh belt up, you madman," snapped Fishlegs.
"We haven't got time," interrupted Hiccup. "This really is our lucky day. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this air pocket is getting smaller."
Hiccup was right.
The air pocket was getting smaller.
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17. HOW BAD COULD THIS DAY GET?
The "ceiling" was definitely nearer to their heads than it had been a few minutes before. It was now just a few inches above the horns on Hiccup's helmet.
There was silence for a second. Alvin's mad eyes swam back into focus again. The only thing that mattered more to him than the treasure was the preservation of his own life.