How To Save Your Trapper [An Eret Love Story]

Chapter Six

"Yay! Can he ride with me? Can he? Can he?" Revna rolled her eyes at Ruffnut's antics. She heard Eret groan as he tried to get away from the crazy blonde. Thankfully, Tuffnut scoffed in disgust and steered the two-headed dragon away from Revna.

Moving on, Revna declared, "You're gonna show us the way to Drago."

Eret scoffed, "And help Dragon Riders sneak into Drago's camp? Just kill me now."

"That can be arranged," Revna said, going along with the plan. "Amethyst, drop it." At her rider's command, Amethyst opened her claws, causing Eret to plummet towards the icy sea. His screams could be heard for miles.

Deciding he'd had enough, Revna sweetly said, "Good girl! Amethyst, fetch!" The Deadly Nadder was all too excited to play along and swoop down, readying her claws for the catch.

As Revna descended closer to Eret's tumbling figure, he yelled, "Alright! Okay! I'll take you to Drago!" Amethyst caught the man just before he could splash into the unforgiving waves.

As Amethyst leveled off at her previous height, Revna stretched and sighed, "Works every time." Astrid laughed as she flew Stormfly closer to the raven-haired girl.

"Nice work, Rev. You to Amethyst," Astrid congratulated. Amethyst purred at the attention, making Revna pet the side of her head lovingly. Eret begrudgingly directed his captors on the right course, praying they knew what trouble they were getting themselves into.

After flying for some time, Eret decided to try and spark up a conversation with the raven-haired beauty. "You've got quite a powerful kick. The ice I had on my head was doing nothing for the pain." Revna didn't respond, and Eret grunted, trying to think of something else to say.

Revna shivered from the cold for what seemed like the thousandth time, which didn't go unnoticed by Eret. Turning on the charm, Eret flirted, "Are you cold? 'Cause if you are I wouldn't be against mounting this beast behind you to keep you warm." Again, no response. Eret knew she could hear him, seeing as her shoulders tensed whenever he addressed her. She was deliberately ignoring him, and for whatever reason, other than the fact that it was rude, Eret hated the feeling because he felt an immense need to talk to her. He was only trying to be nice, lighten the mood in this dreadful situation he found himself in. Racking his brain, Eret thought back to all his encounters with the girl, and from what he gathered, she's a strong force to be reckoned with. But her feisty personality meant there was a possibility of a temper.

Then, Eret remembered something from their first encounter and when that enormous lizard was on top of him. Knowing she hated the name, Eret cunningly asked, "So... what exactly is your plan, sweetheart? You can't possibly think you can just up and waltz into Drago's camp."

Revna cringed in distaste at the nickname he insisted on using, and Eret knew he had her. "First of all, don't call me that. The name's Revna. And second of all, our plan is none of your concern, trapper."

If he couldn't call her 'sweetheart', she wasn't allowed to call him 'trapper', it was only fair. "Eret. And, I'm afraid it is actually," Eret argued, enjoying the girl's fiery personality. "Especially since I'm being dragged to Drago against my will by a crazy girl and her friends on some crazy suicide mission." Deep down, Revna knew he was right. This was a crazy plan, and they didn't even know if Hiccup was actually there. But they had to at least try.

Shaking away her doubts, Revna demanded, "I'm not crazy. I have to get my cousin back."

"What makes you think Drago has him?"

"Because my uncle hasn't returned yet, and Hiccup is still nowhere to be found. Where else could he be?" Through her words, Eret could sense Revna's worry as well as how much she cares for her family.

Revna realized that she just allowed herself to be vulnerable in front of the enemy. Although, it was starting to become difficult to see him as such. She pushed those thoughts away, smothering her emotions, and chided, "But you needn't worry about that. you just get us to Drago and my friends and I will handle the rest. Now, pipe down, Eret, unless you wanna be dropped again on account of annoying babbling."

Fear quickly settled back in. Drago would surely kill him for his betrayal. He was as good as dead the second they land. But for some reason, impending death wasn't the only thing on his mind. His thoughts suddenly became swarmed with images of his beautiful raven-haired, violet-eyed captor. Eret smirked to himself, oddly satisfied that he actually had a somewhat civil conversation with the girl. And when she said his name without any hatred supporting it, a strange feeling washed over him. The same feeling washed over Revna when his name rolled off her tongue with such ease, and her cheeks grew warm, which was a stark contrast to the numbing cold she's been feeling. What was happening to them?

The distant chattering of Revna's friends reached her ears, bringing her out of her wandering mind. Coming to her senses, Revna called for Eret's attention, and when he answered, she asked the single question that's been burning in her mind. "You said you didn't have a choice when it came to working for Drago. What does that mean exactly?"

Eret sighed as the pleasant thoughts of Revna switched to the dark memories of his past that he'd rather forget. It wasn't a story he liked to tell, feeling others would look at him as weak. And Eret never imagined he'd tell a complete stranger his life story. But something about Revna made him feel that it was okay. Her tone of voice held no judgment or anger, instead, it was filled with curiosity and another thing....concern. Or maybe Stockholm Syndrome was already setting in, making Eret go mad.

Either way, he felt safe enough to share. "Well, my father was the greatest Dragon Trapper alive, and he raised me in the lifestyle. It's all I've ever known. When word got around about my trapping achievements, Drago entered my life, demanding I work for him. I tried to refuse, but he threatened to kill me and everyone I loved back home if I didn't comply. I found out later that despite my allegiance he burned down my village anyway, leaving no survivors. Drago made sure I had nowhere to run if I ever decided to leave, so I have no choice but to stay."

Hot tears stung Revna's eyes as she listened to Eret's backstory. But she refused to let them fall, knowing they'd freeze solid on her cold cheeks, and she refused to show any more signs of weakness. Sniffling from either the cold winds or Eret's tale, Revna breathed, "It doesn't have to be that way."

Eret let her words circulate in his mind. Could there really be a life for him outside of dragon trapping? If there was, would he be safe from Drago? And where could he go without putting others in danger? Hope had become a silly notion for Eret over the years. And sometimes, when life was its bleakest, Drago branding his skin, for instance, Eret found himself hoping and praying for a better life only to chastise himself for such ridiculous thoughts. But something about Revna and her dragon-riding friends made him want to hope for a better life again. If only it were possible, Eret thought dejectedly. He didn't have the luxury of letting his guard down. Steeling himself, Eret pushed any hopeful thoughts out of his mind. After all, he'd soon be in the belly of the beast, facing Drago as a traitor. His time was up.

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Or is it... Dun, dun, DUN!!!!

Ha! We shall see in the next chapter. How are you liking the story so far? Leave your thoughts in the comments. I love reading them!

Love,

KK