The Great Journey

Prologue:

No matter how many times a man saves the world, it will always get back into trouble. A new threat rises and challenges the world along with the relationship between Astrid and Hiccup. When Hiccup is kidnapped by this dark force of discord, Matthias has no choice but to ask for help from his arch rival, whom he accidentally stumbles upon in this desperate situation. Together the gang will embark on a journey such as man has never seen or dreamed of before. Ancient evils, new allies, mythical creatures, and measurably more await these teenagers. Things become complicated when the kids discover this tracker they have allied themselves with has a shadowy past. They have no choice but to trust him, it's the only way Hiccup can be found and brought back to Berk. Can this evil be stopped? Can this crafty competitor even be trusted? Only one way to find out.

Chapter 1: A Surprise for Astrid

The morning came as Hiccup slowly peeled open his eyelids. He sat up and looked around the room to see if the coast was clear. 'Not a soul in sight.' he thought, "tiptoeing" his way to the door. 'See? No problems, just make sure that she isn't coming this- oof!' Hiccup's face buried itself into the floor, he had tripped over Toothless's tail. The Night Fury woke up to see his master lying face down with his hand under his chin.

"Hey buddy," Hiccup mumbled sarcastically, "Trying to make sure I don't leave the house aren't you?" The dragon nodded humorously and let out a light grunt. "Toothless it's Astrid's birthday today, and I want to do something special. You understand right?" Toothless just stared, indicating that he was indifferent to that sort of thing. "Uh, never mind. Anyway, I know just the kind of gift for her. There's this rare, beautiful flower that grows near Raven's Point called the Black Geranium. I know black seems like a dull color for a flower, but when the sun hits them just right, they shine a bright blue lined with gold. I've already made her something to wear, I just wanted to sew a couple of those flowers onto it to give it a nice touch. I don't know, what do you think?" Hiccup held up a drawing of the dress he had made.

Toothless faked a smile to show his approval. Hiccup felt like dancing at that moment, but his joy was averted by a knock on the door. Hiccup panicked and immediately hid the drawing, then proceeded to answer the door. To his surprise, and his horrors, it was none other than Astrid.

"Hey Hiccup," she smiled, "What's up?"

Hiccup skittishly staggered backwards at the sight of the raving beauty, "Um, hi- Astrid, hi- Astrid- hi Astrid. Hello, um, how are you on this fine day?"

"Hiccup, are you okay? Remember it's just me."

"Of course I'm okay, I'm just- just- happy to see you! It's nice to have you here."

"Oh, okay. Are you going to be ready for tonight?"

"Tonight? Um, you mean like tonight tonight? Or like tomorrow tonight?" An intense blush flooded his face. He had forgotten tonight was their first date.

Astrid smiled and tried to stifle a giggle, "You know what I mean, silly." She leaned towards him, preparing to give Hiccup a kiss.

Hiccup backed away, "Wow, look, it's almost time for your bath Toothless." The dragon's eyes widened as he growled.

Astrid raised her brow, "Hiccup you're acting really weird, what's wrong?"

"Oh nothing, I've just been flowering-er- thinking a lot lately."

"Oh, I see, in that case you better get back to your thinking." She winked at him and started to leave, only to quickly turn back, "Hiccup?"

"Yeah?" He slumped seeing his surprise was spoiled.

"I like Black Geraniums." She smiled and went out the door.

Hiccup leaped into the air, "Yes! She found out!" Toothless looked at him with a confused stare. "You see, she thinks I'm just getting her flowers, but she has no clue about the dress!" The Night Fury continued to stare at him. "Oh come on! I was joking about the whole bath thing!" Hiccup gathered his things and set out to find his trusted friend Fishlegs.

Meanwhile Ruffnut was sitting in her room staring at herself in the mirror. She gripped one of her blonde braids and held it up to look at it thoroughly. She huffed angrily at the sight of her hair. 'He'll never like this' she thought, 'There's got to be something I can do!' She grabbed the knife on the table next to her and began to get to work. She started by cutting the cords that bound her hair into braided bundles, letting all her long locks loose. The only problem was the fact that she had never cut her hair, so she had no idea how to trim it neatly. On top of that, her hair was so long that it went all the way down to her feet.

"Ruffnut?" a voice asked behind her. She screamed as she turned around and fell to the floor. It was Hiccup, who had a very surprised look on his face. "Is that you?"

The Thorston girl tried to hide her nervous breakdown, "Of course it's me! Who'd you think it was?"

The boy shrugged, "Honestly I don't know, but that's a nice head of hair you have."

Ruffnut blushed a deep red from Hiccup's compliment. "You really think so?"

Hiccup laughed softly in agreement, "Of course, Fishlegs would love to see this side of you. Well, that is, if you can ever get him to notice."

Ruffnut gruffly hid her smile, "What do I care if Fishlegs likes my hair or not?"

Hiccup gave an apologetic look and started for the door, when suddenly he turned back towards Ruffnut as a clever smile crept across his face, "He doesn't like your hair, he likes you." The girl blushed even more after Hiccup went out.

That was when Ruffnut had a spark of genius. She grabbed a bunch of ointments, powders and creams and prepared to apply them to her face. "If he likes me now, he'll love me after this!"

Hiccup spent nearly an hour looking all over Berk for his companion, but had no luck in finding him. 'Wait a minute.' Hiccup thought, 'I could have asked Ruffnut, she always knows where he is. Man, sometimes I'm just so dumb.' Hiccup quickly headed back towards the Thorston house to "interrogate" Ruffnut. He casually approached the front door, only to be surprised by the sound of what seemed like someone singing. Hiccup's curiosity grew as he slowly opened the door. What he saw was a girl with her back facing him, her hair running to the floor. Hiccup tried to be as calm as possible, "Ruffnut, do you know where Fishlegs might be? I need him for something- something important."

The girl slowly turned the side of her head, hiding most of her face from Hiccup, "He said he was going out to Raven's Point to get some samples and stuff."

The Haddock gave a lop-sided smile, "Thanks Ruff, you're the best!" He started to leave, only to be halted by Ruffnut's voice.

"Can I get your opinion on something, Hiccup?" she asked in a much softer voice than her usual tone.

"Sure, what about?" He replied.

"Well, um," she turned around towards Hiccup, "How do I look?"

Hiccup screamed at the top of his lungs for a moment, sounding like a little girl. Ruffnut had overdone everything; the powder to shadow her eyes was all over the top part of her face, the colored lip balm covered the lower half, and she had pierced her ears with earrings that didn't match. "I mean-" he tried to not to freak out again, "It looks- um, nice."

"I knew it, I look ugly don't I?" She grew very upset, "He'll never notice me, will he?"

"He likes you for who you are, Ruffnut. You don't need all this stuff, besides he already thinks you're pretty."

"He does?" She ceased her tears as the boy nodded, "You're just saying that aren't you? I just wanted him to like me a little more."

"I mean it Ruff, he talks about you too much for comfort sometimes. He really does like you. If you still feel that you need all this, I know someone who can help."

Ruffnut gave a half smile to the young lad, "I'd like that, but who?" Hiccup said nothing, but let a smile spread on his face as he rushed out the door.

"I'll be right back!" He said as his voiced trailed off. Two minutes later Hiccup came back dragging Astrid by her hand. "Found her. Astrid should be able to help you."

Astrid looked at Ruffnut for a moment, and then back at Hiccup. "Um, how can I help her exactly?"

"I've seen you do stuff like this before, you can help her put it on, if it's okay that is."

"What do you mean you've seen me do this before?" An embarrassed blush fell over her, "You've been watching me?"

"Well yeah- but, not that early in the morning." He said foolishly whilst nervously chuckling. His timid smile soon faded to a look of terror as Astrid's face boiled with rage.

"Get out!" she shouted, grabbing a hand axe from the wall and launching it at Hiccup, who successfully blocked it with the door. "Get out and don't come back!"

Hiccup heeded Astrid's words and ran as far as he could away from her before she could pick up something else to throw.

Astrid let out a frustrated groan, "What did I ever see in that guy?"

Ruffnut shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe you think he's cute, or maybe it was the pet dragon, or maybe you just like him. After all he liked you first."

"Ruffnut, you're wrong. He loved me first."

"Okay, okay, so I used the wrong word. In that case, maybe you just love him."

"Be it as it may, he better not show his face until I cool off. What boy in the right mind would do that? Peeping into the window of someone else's house?"

"You shouldn't judge people if you're guilty of the same thing. I've seen you watch him when he thought he needed to shave in the morning."

Astrid blushed yet again, "Ugh, don't remind me. Wait- who told you that?"

"I just said I've seen you watch him-"

Astrid immediately interrupted, "No, not that. The thing you said about not judging others?"

"Oh, that? Matthias showed it to me, it's one of the notes in this book he carries all the time. Except it said something really weird. It said "Judge not, lest you be judged". It didn't make any sense till Matthias told me what it meant."

Astrid gave a heavy, harsh sigh and calmly smiled. "Alright, he gets a break this time. But I better not catch him again."

"Well, maybe he just thought you were so beautiful that he wanted to catch you with your hair down, or without any face-paint."

Her eyes brightened a little, "Well, that's one surprise that I didn't want for my birthday. Let's hope his other ones are better. Anyway let's get you fixed up."

"Thanks, I can't thank you enough for this." The Thorston girl had lost the gruffness in her voice, and had facially become more delicate.

"Thank me when I actually get something done. Right now, let's get to work. Now , whose attention are you trying to get exactly?"

Ruffnut giggled a bit, "Fishlegs."

Astrid shuddered slightly,"Fishlegs? Ooh, this is gonna be tough."

"Why, what's wrong with Fishlegs?"

"Nothing, he just a little- oblivious to things."

"I know that, but that's why he's so cute and funny." She giggled some more, to the point of complete annoyance.

Astrid still disagreed, "He's a bit aloof and careless too. No offense."

"Well, you aren't interested in him, I am. Can we get on with this?"

"Alright, to business." She took a rag and coated it with one of the ointments. "He's gonna notice you for sure when I'm done here."

So far, Hiccup had ran through a great deal of forest. Not long after that he didn't even know where he was. He tried searching for some moss to find his way back, but to no avail. That was when he heard a deep, manly voice singing. It was coming from the other side of the row of bushes. He slowly pushed them aside, only to see his stout friend Fishlegs, who was singing and picking some Bluebell flowers.

"Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked carefully, "What are you doing here?"

Fishlegs tucked the flowers behind his back, "Oh- um, I'm- getting samples." He gave an awkward smile, as if he were hiding something.

"Bluebells are samples? Why don't you try collecting bugs, or eggs, or something?"

"Well, you see, Ruffnut doesn't like bugs, eggs, or things like that. She has a plus ten love for flowers."

"Ah, well, you're off to a bad start. She's allergic to Bluebells." Hiccup wisely objected, which led to Fishlegs instantly dropping the flowers.

"What am I going to do?" He hopelessly shouted, "I really want to show her that I care."

"Might I suggest the Black Geranium?" Hiccup raised both of his brows.

Fishlegs slowly smiled, "Yes, that would be perfect! And much more, I know exactly where they are! A whole nest of them!"

"Good, can you show me?"

"Sure. May I ask why?"

"Oh- um- well, its- it's Astrid's birthday, I wanted to get her some and surprise her."

"Ah, a motivation very similar to my own. Alright, come with me."

The two teenagers went towards the falls at the edge of Raven's Point to search for the elusive flower.

"They only grow in that one spot right there." Fishlegs said pointing to the rock shelf above the waterfall. Any optimism Hiccup once had was devoured by the great height of Odin Falls of Raven's Point. "Okay Hiccup, after you."

Hiccup turned pale white, "Why me?"

"You wanted the Geraniums. That and I've got this thing about heights."

"Fine, give me a boost." Hiccup's friend lifted him up onto the slippery terrace. He slowly crept along the rock wall attempting to keep his distance from the drop in front of him. He looked ahead to see what appeared to be a cave in the wall, with something growing outside of it. "Black Geraniums!" he shouted, "Fishlegs, I found them! I found them!"

"Good job Hiccup!" Fishlegs responded, "Just don't stand in front of the cave!"

"Why what's in there?" Hiccup asked whilst directly disobeying Fishlegs's warning. As he started to collect the flowers, he heard a low rumbling sound originating from the cave. "What's that? Fishlegs, talk to me! What is that?" Hiccup's question was answered as a jet of water hit him hard in the chest, sending him flying off the shelf.

"Hiccup!" Fishlegs shouted in horror as he watched his friend, "Think fast Fishlegs, think fast- that's it! Horrorcow! Here boy!" The bodacious Ingerman readied himself as his Gronckle approached. Fishlegs mounted onto Horrorcow and darted as fast as he could towards his rapidly descending companion. "Hang on buddy, I got you!" he yelled as he prepared to hover the Gronckle under the free-falling Hiccup.

Suddenly the unexpected happened. Various items began dropping out of Hiccup's bag and onto Fishlegs's head. One of those items included Hiccup's very heavy journal, which landed dead on target. Fishlegs was knocked out cold, Horrorcow became distracted and left, and all Hiccup hung onto were those Black Geraniums. Hiccup would have been instantaneously added to the ground had it not been for a flock of Terrors flying by. Hiccup quickly waved the flowers around to get the Terrors' attention. The swarm raced towards him and clutched onto various parts of his clothing. It was a slow trip, but there were just enough of the tiny beasts to haul him onto solid land. To show gratitude and keep the dragons from following him, Hiccup threw one of the Geraniums off the cliff-side. The Terrors immediately went after it and disappeared out of sight. Hiccup went to search for Fishlegs in hope that he had survived, only to find most of his belongings scattered along the way. He looked everywhere, but couldn't find his corpulent friend. That was when he heard the deep voice singing again, but this song sounded different. All he heard was a song that sounded like, "Hiccup if you're still alive, cut me down, it's way too high!" Hiccup looked up to see Fishlegs, who was hanging upside down in a tree by a leather strap on his jacket. Hiccup began laughing hysterically. "Quit hanging around and get down here!" he joked, still laughing.

"Oh sure," Fishlegs remarked, "In the meanwhile you probably want me to get you those Black-" Hiccup held up the flowers with a smile on his face, "Geraniums. You actually got them?"

"All of them except one." Hiccup answered, "Astrid's gonna look beautiful when I put some these on her dress."

"She has a dress? Never mind- just please, get me down from here!"

"Okay, okay, just relax. I'll have you down in a shake of a lamb's tail." Hiccup observed the great height of the tree, "Okay, make that two or three shakes."

"Why don't you go for four while you're at it? Get me down!"

Hiccup would have granted the boy's request, but he heard something. "Fishlegs, keep still! There's something here. Don't move or talk!" Hiccup walked over to where he heard rustling in the bushes. He looked over the side to find that there was nothing there but a rabbit. "Never mind Fishlegs, it's just a ra-" His speech was interrupted by a bolas that wrapped tightly around his legs, knocking him to the ground. Out of the bushes emerged several large, tan-colored men in dark robes. They had their faces covered with wraps that went around their heads and spoke to one another in a language Hiccup did not understand.

One of them grabbed Hiccup's jaw and moved his head. "He's small, but he'll do." the man said in his native tongue, "Take him to the ship, we make for Baal Bahram." The man next to him nodded and struck Hiccup hard in the head, making him black out. As they dragged him off, one man noticed the Geraniums Hiccup had dropped. The man crushed them with his foot and walked off with the others, not noticing that Fishlegs was still stuck in a tree.

Fishlegs shook his head, 'Not good! This is so not good! Who were those guys? And where are they going with Hiccup? And why am I still hanging here? Those guys are long gone by now. But what am I going to do? I have no idea what they were saying. Wait, Matthias traveled the world, he might know! It's worth the try!' He called out as loud as he could, "Help! Somebody! Anybody? Get me down! Please, help!" but it was no use. Hiccup was gone, he was out all alone, and even worse, both of their surprises were ruined.