Hey lovely readers, guess who's back?! That's right, me . Get ready for lots of twists and turns and a special thing, I'll take suggestions as to what y'all want to have happen. For my TMNT lovers, I am working on another story for that as well. I just thought I'd try another fandom while I was at it. If y'all don't like this, feel free to tell me so, and I'll try and fix it. As always, leave a review and keep being awesome my lovely readers!
Hiccup paced back and forth nervously. A loud roar broke the quiet, and he drew to a halt, and turned to face the sea. He was standing on one of the many cliffs of Berk, overlooking the small town and the sea. The wind whipped around him, and crumbling rocks and dirt periodically fell off the ledge and tumbled into the sheep pasture far below. His long, dark hair whipped around his face, and his usually smiling face was warped into a worried frown. He was alone.
Another roar shook the cliff, and he winced.
"C'mon, guys, where are you?" he muttered, running his hands through his hair.
Suddenly, a speck appeared on the horizon. It hurtled quickly towards the island and began to take shape as it moved closer, far too fast for a boat. It wasn't long until he was able to make out the rough outline of a large, blue, lizard like creature with wings and a spiked tail extending far out behind it, Astrid's dragon, Stormfly. It wasn't until the creature was soaring over the village that Hiccup let out the breath he hadn't even realized he was holding. Sitting upon Stormfly's back was a familiar, blonde girl.
"Astrid!" he yelled, waving his arms, "Over here!"
The dragon changed course and landed heavily next to him on the ledge. More rocks tumbled into the pasture below. Astrid threw herself over the side of her dragon and ran to Hiccup. She wrapped him in a tight hug before pulling back and looking at him in concern.
"Oh thank Thor you're all right. Trader Johann came by and said that the Outcasts had the island, and then as I was flying I didn't see anyone and the town was deserted, and I thought… oh gods, I thought everyone was dead!" she rushed out.
"They're not dead; Alvin has everyone on the other side of the island. I don't know where. Where are the others? I thought you would bring all the riders?" he asked worriedly.
"They're coming, they had to help the other islanders recover from the storm. I don't think they believed Trader Johann. Snotlout told everyone he was just a crazed old lunatic. I believed him though," she fumed.
She had been facing towards the sea, but as she said this she turned and looked back at Hiccup. She couldn't imagine what he had gone through. Toothless hadn't been well, so Hiccup had decided to stay on Berk and help run the island instead of go to the nearby island of Wepper which had recently been hit by a storm. The other riders had left to help. While they had been on Wepper, Trader Johann had come to port terrified and telling tales of Outcasts invading Berk. He had quickly collapsed. The others had dismissed him as crazy, but Astrid had felt certain something was wrong. Now that she was here, she knew she had been right.
She studied Hiccup. He had a long cut along the side of his face, and his vest was torn. He looked exhausted, and there was a haunted look in his eyes. As he shifted his weight, she noticed that he was favoring his metal foot over his real one. Suddenly she realized something else was missing.
"Hiccup, where's Toothless?" she asked.
"With the villagers. Someone needed to protect them, and I couldn't get to him in time. We couldn't fly away," he said sullenly.
"It's okay, we'll get him back!" she said, trying to cheer him up.
"Well, first we need a plan," he replied.
"You mean you don't have one already?" she asked in surprise.
Hiccup always had a plan, always. Astrid began to grow nervous, even more than she already was. A little voice in her head whispered that something was wrong with Hiccup. His eyes, as well as looking haunted, were slightly dazed and vacant.
"Astrid, I barely got away with my life, excuse me for not being quite on top of things. It's been a rough couple of days!" he muttered.
He turned and began to limp away from the ledge and towards the tree line. Astrid followed him in confusion; nothing was making sense. Stormfly ambled up behind her and gently nudged her with her snout, as if to say "It's okay." Astrid reached out and rubbed the beautiful dragon's neck as she slowly followed Hiccup into the forest.
"What happened here, girl?" she whispered.
They walked until they were far enough into the forest to be hidden, but close enough to the edge to see the sea. Once they reached this point, Hiccup turned abruptly and followed a makeshift path through the trees until they reached what looked to be a small camp. There was a blanket on the ground next to a smoldering campfire. Wood had been stacked off to the side, and an ax hung on a broken tree branch. A pot sat next to the fire, but there was no food or water or other supplies to be seen.
Hiccup took a step forward, spun around, and stretched his arms out wide. A goofy grin stretched across his face for a moment as he gestured to the small camp, but his eyes were still dull, the smile not quite reaching them.
"Welcome to Camp Hiccup! As you can see, we have all the comforts of home situated in a rustic outdoor setting. Ah, I believe this is your room, Miss," he joked, leading her to the blanket on the ground.
Astrid looked at the small camp in shock, but she couldn't hold back a small laugh at Hiccup's jokes. Astrid sat down on the dry pine needles that carpeted the forest floor next to the fire while Stormfly curled up next to her, exhausted from the long and strenuous flight. Hiccup rummaged around in the brush on the outskirts of the camp before coming back with a pack. The sun was beginning to sink below the horizon, and the shadows were growing darker and longer.
"Where was that?" Astrid asked in surprise as Hiccup dumped the pack unceremoniously on the ground.
"Around. I needed to keep it cool. Stormfly, could you light the fire please?" he replied, without really answering the question.
Stormfly quickly obliged, and soon a crackling fire was the only source of light and heat. As soon as darkness fell, the temperature had plummeted. Astrid watched Hiccup curiously as he began to bring various pieces of something out of the pack. The three packages were of different sizes, but all roughly the same shape and wrapped in cloth. Hiccup unwrapped them carefully, stuck two on some nearby sticks, and chucked the last at Stormfly, who gulped it down greedily. Hiccup walked unsteadily over to Astrid and handed her one of the newly made kabobs as he plopped down next to her. He immediately stretched his stick out into the fire. Astrid watched him and quickly followed suit. As the smell of the cooking stuff wafted towards her, her stomach grumbled. She smiled as she realized what was for dinner.
"Fish? How did you get fish?" she asked incredulously.
"I was picking some up for Toothless when the attack started. When my dad told me to run, I was still holding the pack, that Thor. Otherwise, I would have starved. I can't hunt, and the Outcasts raided the storehouse. There would have been nothing for me to eat," he explained shaking his head.
"Oh. So what exactly did happen?" she asked.
Stormfly shrieked, questioning Hiccup as well.
"Where to begin?" he asked himself as he looked at the flames.
Astrid shivered as the bone chilling cold began to set in. Hiccup broke out of his trance and immediately got up and grabbed the blanket. Walking back over to her, he draped it around her shoulders and sat down again. He gave her a weak smile.
"It gets cold up here, sorry," he said with a shrug.
"No, no it's okay. I'm fine. Are you cold?" she asked, studying him; something was definitely wrong.
"Nah, I'm used to it."
"But-"
"Used to it. Anyways, Outcasts, invasion. People taken captured," he said, changing the subject, "It was pretty much a normal day. Trader Johann had just arrived, and everyone was in that oh-my-gods-there's-new-stuff-from-far-away-for-me-to-buy frenzy. You know how it is."
"Yep," she chuckled.
"Well, anyways, the guards left their posts to come see Johann, and no one was really doing their job. Which was fine, I guess, I mean it happens every time something big happens, but then-" he broke off here with a wince and gave a loud cough before continuing, "then Bucket came flying down through the town at break neck speed yelling about ships on the horizon. Gobber went to calm him down, but he just wouldn't listen, so Gobber went up to the guard tower to show him that there were no ships. Except, there were ships, lots of them. Everyone started running and yelling and it was the kind of chaos I haven't seen since the dragons were attacking us."
Stormfly gave a loud humph and twitched her tail irritably at this.
"Sorry, since we attacked the dragons," amended Hiccup with an eye roll.
"Then what?" Astrid asked, worried that people were hurt because she hadn't been there to help protect them.
"Well, we managed to get slightly organized before they hit, but it was too late. Johann was out of here the moment the ships were sighted, by the way. When the Outcasts landed on the shore, there was a battle, and we were holding our own until they let loose two Nadder. They wreaked havoc, and as everyone fled, the Outcasts began herding them all into the Great Hall. No one stood a chance after that. Toothless was too far away for me to get to during all this; it only took an hour. Preparation, I had to help find weapons; battle, I fought; dragons, I tried to calm them. One knocked me with its tail, and I went flying. I hit a house and lost consciousness. When I came to, everyone was gone except for a few last stragglers. Dad was being escorted up to the Great Hall by Alvin himself. He saw me, and he told me to run. As soon as the troops were gone, I did. I grabbed a blanket off the ground, and old pot, I already had knives and the ax, and, of course, the fish. I've been hiding up here ever since."
Astrid sat in shock. Her fish had long since been removed from the fire, but it sat untouched in front of her as she tried to make sense of what she was hearing. Everyone was captured. Everyone she knew and loved was gone. She shuddered, and an overwhelming feeling of guilt settled over her. I should have been here. I could've helped. She thought bitterly.
"Did anyone else escape?" she asked, others had to have gotten away.
"I'm sure, but I haven't found them yet. I've looked. I haven't found them though. That's how I hurt my leg, fell out of a tree while searching," he said, shaking his head in embarrassment.
"You klutz. How long have you been out here?" she asked suddenly, reality finally beginning to set in.
"Three days," he said nonchalantly.
Astrid blanched. He'd been out here, on his own, with almost no food for three days. He didn't know if anyone was coming for help, or if the villagers were even still alive. She realized that he was staring at her in concern.
"Eat. You have to be hungry!" he urged, digging into his own fish.
She began to nibble on her kabob, but slowly. Her mind was far too cluttered with nervous thoughts about everyone who had been taken, but she was also worried about Hiccup. As she took another tentative bite of her fish, Hiccup broke into a coughing fit beside her. He smiled weakly at her when it had passed and kept eating like nothing had happened.
"Hiccup?"
"Ya?"
"What's wrong?"
"Um, I don't know, the whole island has been kidnapped by Outcasts, but that's pretty usual stuff," he replied giving her a bewildered look.
"No, what's wrong with you?" she urged.
"Nothing," he replied quickly with a small cough.
Astrid didn't buy it, but she let it go. She would figure it out. Soon the fire began to die down, and Hiccup fell asleep on the outskirts of the camp. Astrid stay awake, leaning against Stormfly and staring into the dying embers of the fire intently. Looking at Hiccup intently she let out a sigh.
"What's going on here?" she whispered to the darkness.