Just a note: I know there is not a lot of development yet, but I promise that a lot of things will be hinted at in this chapter so bear with me!

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Heather tapped her hand on the door to Astrid's room. There was no response, so she knocked louder. "Astrid, are you up?" She slowly opened the door to see that Astrid had collapsed on top of her bed and was still in the previous night's attire. "Wake up sleepy head," she coaxed her friend as she gently shook her shoulder. 'That's odd', she thought to herself. As long as the two had known each other, Astrid had been an early riser and was startled by the slightest noise. "Astrid," she kept trying. "Today's a big day!" Still no response.

Heather headed back down the stairs. "Hello, Heather. Do you want something to eat?" said Mrs. Hofferson.

"No thank you. I'm still trying to wake her up, plus I just ate."

"That's strange. She's always up before us to train and ride Stormfly."

"I know." Heather headed back upstairs with slight concern. Next to Astrid's bed, she found her axe. "Hey Astrid, nice axe." She said loudly. Heather then took the axe and threw it at the wall by Astrid's bed, where there were already cuts as Astrid had done so in the past.

"I'm up," said Astrid. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. She hadn't been this tired in a long time. "Want to go get breakfast?"

"I just ate lunch."

"What time is it?"

"Early afternoon. Don't worry, I slept in too. No one's even seen Hiccup yet." Astrid figured she had drunk maybe a little too much mead the night before. She started to stand up, but instantly felt dizzy. Heather caught her and steadied her. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. What's on the agenda for today?"

Heather was suspicious. Astrid hadn't needed her help steadying herself in years. Yet, this was Astrid she was talking about, who once insisted on training all day after being hit in the leg with a dragon root arrow. "You are supposed to finish deciding on decorations and such."

"Oh, now I remember." Astrid yanked her axe off the wall. "Let's go."

As soon as they made it out the door, the twins ran up to them. They were panting a little. "Astrid, Heather, you won't guess what we saw out over the ocean!" said Ruffnut.

"Was it a bird?" asked Heather.

"No." said Tuffnut. "It was a…"

"Was it water?" asked Astrid.

Ruffnut answered. "Well technically yes, but…"

"Was it a dragon?" asked Heather.

"Will you guys let me finish?!" yelled Tuffnut.

"It was a boat."

"Wait, how did you guys know?"

"Because what else would you see?" Astrid remembered the last time they had seen something over the ocean. They had flown nearly an hour just to find an angry scaldron.

Tuffnut cleared his throat. "It was a ship, but different from any Viking ship I've ever seen."

"Hunters?" Heather asked.

"It had torn white sails," said Ruff.

"And the people weren't dressed as Vikings," said Tuff.

"And when we flew in for a closer look, they acted as though they had never seen a dragon before."

Astrid thought about this. They were probably from outside the archipelago, and perhaps they warranted further exploration. "We should tell Hiccup about this."

"But there is more," panted Tuff.

"Yeah, they had a black flag, and it looked like they had a hostage!"

Heather and Astrid looked at each other at the same time. "Pirates!" said Heather. "I've seen some in the south, before I joined ya'll at the edge a few years ago."

"Then the chief definitely needs to know about this."

Hiccup woke to Toothless dragging him out of bed. "Toothless, leave me alone!" His dragon started to laugh as he fell out of his blankets. "Yeah, yeah, very funny. Just wait 'il yer tired enough and 'll show ye what it's like."

Hiccup stood up and readjusted his prosthetic leg. As time went on, and his leg grew, he had needed to make new ones that were more versatile. His current one had multiple settings, and built out of gronkle iron, it was slimmer while remaining sturdy and light. Yet, despite being only several months old, it still had some scratches in the metal from trying out some tricks over the ocean. Now that he had finished growing for the most part, he wondered just how long this one would last before needing to be replaced.

He stretched himself before heading outside to see that he had slept until noon. He expected this, with how late he had gone to bed. He wondered if Gobber and Spitelout were still feasting in the great hall. Just as he thought about it, Gobber ran up to him, looking like he was fully rested. "Chief, some of the villagers have been waiting for ye' in the center of town for the preparations to be finalized."

"Very well, Gobber. 'll head straight over."

"And there was also a bit of a problem in the great hall…"

"What happened?"

"Oh, a few tables upturned, nothing I couldn't handle."

"Good." Gobber hobbled behind the chief as he headed for the center of the village.

Astrid arrived in the center of the village as carts were being brought in with supplies, anything from decorations to food and mead.

"What a shame," said Ruff.

"What?" asked Heather.

"Well, everything is just so- simple." said Tuffnut. "But don't worry. You all are in the company of Tuffnut, wedding planner.

"Tuffnut, everything is already planned out!"

"The decorations?" She pointed to a cart. "The food?" A different cart. "What about your dress?"

"Hiccup's handling it," said Astrid. As if on cue, someone came up to them carrying the dress.

"How do you like it, Ms. Astrid? There is still time to change it."

Astrid held the thing in her arms. It was beautiful. It was white with light blue and green, and more than she expected when Hiccup said he'd handle it. How could she ever not like it?

"It's lovely!"

"Glad you like it, Milady." She turned to see her betrothed standing behind her. She gave him a quick hug, and after stepping back Hiccup was able to see her more clearly. "Are you alright Astrid? You look exhausted."

"Yeah, just tired from last night." There was an awkward moment between them. Usually they were always comfortable with each other, but now neither one of them could speak.

"hu-hum," grunted Heather.

"Oh, right. Hiccup, we have something important to tell you." She looked at Tuff, hoping he could explain it, but he was too busy taste-testing the food.

"We found what appear to be pirates while, Tuff and I were flying, and it looks like they have a hostage." Ruff spoke up.

"Pirates?"

"I have run into the likes of them before. They aren't friendly," said Heather. "They have mostly been eradicated in the archipelago, but according to the twins these are from another land."

"Let's get going then," said Hiccup. He jumped onto toothless as the twins flew off to find Fishlegs and Snotlout. Astrid got onto Stormfly's back, fastening on her mask as she took off from Berk. This was going to be fun.

"Isn't this fun?" asked Snotlout. "All of us together in the sky like this?'

"It has been a while," agreed Fishlegs.

"Breath it in Fishface, this might be the last chance we get."

"What are you saying?"

"Yeah, what are you saying?" asked Hiccup.

"Well, you know, now that you two are getting married, we aren't going to get to do this anymore. Not that we won't go flying, but Astrid might get pregnant, then you two lovebirds have a life on your own you have to keep. The same will happen if any of us were to finally get married." Hiccup thought about this. Snotlout's words of advice usually didn't make any sense, but this time they were probably true. Astrid however, let out a growl in frustration at what Snot said. "What, I'm just saying it's likely this is our last mission all together, especially with Heather."

Two hours later they riders finally gave up. No sign of the boat. From where the twins last saw them, they could have gone anywhere or docked at one of the few nearby islands, and they couldn't just attack a ship docked in someone else's port.

"We should circle around again," said Astrid. There was a look of exhaustion on her face, and only Hiccup could pick up on it.

"Actually," he said. "We've been around several times already. Toothless is getting a little tired out. We should head back." Toothless was of course well rested, but if he had said 'Astrid's tired' he might not have had all his limbs when he reached Berk. Okay, so less limbs than he already had.

Astrid of course saw through it. When they were halfway back, she flew close to him so they weren't in earshot of the others. "Why are you doing this? Hiccup, I'm fine." The very fact she wasn't putting up much of a fight only confirmed that she was too tired to keep scouring the ocean.

"Just taking precautions." As soon as he said that, he knew he was in trouble, but he didn't hear a response. He turned back to face her, expecting a very angry look, but instead found that she had fallen behind him. When they reached Berk, they were facing the wooded side of the island. As the others flew ahead, Astrid landed in the forest. Hiccup followed suit. Astrid put her hand against a tree and leaned against it.

"Nothing's wrong Hiccup. I just have a headache." And with that she took her axe and swung it at a tree. Hiccup had only seen Astrid like this several times before, and every Viking knew to stay away when Astrid was in one of her moods. Wanting to help her with whatever was wrong, but not wanting to make things worse, he headed back for the village. "Want to go flying later?" he asked.

"Sure, I'll be here." Even though she was tired, she still swung her axe into another tree.

Astrid must have something on her mind, Heather thought as Hiccup returned without her. When something bothered Astrid, she tended to lose sleep over it and take her frustration out on the forest. She just wondered what was on her mind. Or, of course, she might have a cold. Astrid never liked to rest when she was sick. Once Gothi had to give her a sleeping tonic just so she would lie down, at least that's what Fishlegs had told her. Astrid herself would never admit it if she were under the weather.

Astrid kept throwing her axe. It was the only thing that seemed to calm her mind besides flying, and Hiccup had already decided she was too 'worn out' for that. What right did he have? They weren't married yet. Then again, maybe he was right. She was tired, and her head felt like it was on fire. After killing a few more trees and sending Stormfly home, she walked to the cove and lay at the waters edge.

When Hiccup came back several hours later to check on her, he first checked the cove. Sure enough, she was there. This was her spot as much as it was his and toothless'. She had calmed down a lot, and had more color to her cheeks. She was sitting on a rock with her axe in her lap. "Well hello, milady," he said as he climbed down into the cove with toothless on his tail. "I'm sorry that I made ye turn back."

"It's fine, I was a bit tired."

"Ready to go?"

They both climbed onto Toothless' back and took off into the air. The sun was getting low, and the way it hit the island seemed to further reflect its beauty. When they got up high enough, toothless stopped. "Ye ready?" Hiccup asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be." At that, Hiccup jumped off the back of his dragon holding onto her hand. They flew through the air, as the ground and the sea grew closer. She had done this with him before, and she screamed the first time they jumped. As they neared the ground, they let go of each other and pulled something on their suits, allowing their gliders to come out as they soared through the air with toothless close behind them. They could just see Vikings on the ground, staring up at them as they went on their daily business. Hiccup had designed flight suits for some of the more adventure-prone youngsters on the island, but so far only his and Astrid's were completed.

As they neared the cliffs, toothless used blasts to keep them in the air. Suddenly, Astrid looked at the waves beneath her feet and noticed that they looked strange. Everything seemed blurry. She wondered if it was a tear in her eye caused by the rush of air, but couldn't bring her hand to her face to wipe it away until they were on toothless again.

Toothless flew beneath them and Hiccup hooked himself onto his dragon, as she grabbed his hand and he helped her onto the dragon as well. As toothless flew out higher over the sea, Hiccup wound up his suit. But when he looked behind him at Astrid, he saw that her eyes were closed and she was slipping off. He reached out his hand, but it was too late.