Chapter 3

Peace's Swift Decline

"Whoohoo!" Hiccup shouted, his voice echoing off the mountainside.

He and Astrid had taken to the snowy peak on the island with their dragons to slide down the white slope. It was a beautiful, clear day. The fact that they could see all the way down the mountain to the village and ocean below and to the rush of adrenaline that flowed through their veins. Hiccup laughed at the sense of euphoria filling his body. His laugh was cut short, however, when he received a face full of snow.

Astrid and Prince were trying to make themselves as small as possible. As the air resistance decreased, the pair increased in speed. As they passed by Hiccup and Toothless, both Viking and Nightfury were sprayed with snow. Astrid smirked to herself and Prince cackled when the other pair fell even farther behind. Then, a familiar whistle reached their ears. Astrid looked over in shock as a black blur shot past them, barely even touching the snow.

"Hiccup!" Astrid called, "What are you doing? You're going too fast!"

But Hiccup was already beyond hearing. He and Toothless almost floated down the mountain, maneuvering around rocks and trees with ease. He was lost in the flight, until he started to become light-headed. Suddenly the view before moved out of focus, and just as quickly flashed back, and then again, but this time the scenery changed. For a second, Hiccup found himself flying down the side of the mountain, the village below him a giant cloud of fire, smoke, and the weaving bodies of dragons and wyverns. Then everything flashed back to normal, only to again transition to the battle from years ago, but this time they were being chased by the massive black dragon and its evil master.

Astrid watched in horror as Toothless and Hiccup began to drift off to the right, at first coming farther off the ground, and then turning back towards it. Toothless realized something was wrong, and tried to spread his wings to slow them down. Then, Hiccup passed out, causing them to crash into the snow. The duo tumbled through the snow, without any sign of stopping, until Toothless latched onto a nearby tree and caught his Viking friend with his tail.

Astrid was halfway off of Prince by the time he landed next to the Nightfury. She scrambled over to where he lay, rolling him over so she could get a good look at him. She gasped as she saw blackness weaving its way through his veins suddenly retreat towards his shoulder. The blonde moved his clothing away and watched as the blackness retreated to one central point and disappeared. As soon as it did so, Hiccup shot up, wide awake.

"Hiccup," Astrid breathed. She kissed him quickly as relief flooded over before she spoke again, "Are you ok?"

Hiccup turned his face to look at her, his green eyes showed something halfway between confusion and shock. His breathing slowed and his eyes filled with love and relief. He wrapped his arms tightly around his wife.

"I saw the battle from twelve years ago," he said.

"What do you mean?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup let her go and brought his hand to his head. "My vision kept switching back and forth, now and the past. Then everything went dark."

"C'mon," Astrid said as she got him on his feet, "let's head back to the village."

As it just so happened, the day was the anniversary of the Vikings' victory over the evil Aries. It had become customary for the brawny people to hold a festival of celebration on this day. So, that night all of the Haddocks joined the rest of the village in the Tavern and the surrounding area. A large space was cleared out in the tavern for dances, while numerous tables filled the streets, each heavily laden with a wide variety of food.

It did not take long for the younger Haddocks to vanish in the massive crowd of people. Their parents let them go off and enjoy this special night. Astrid wore a beautiful blue dress that quite frankly she didn't feel very comfortable in. However, any discomfort was more than made up for in Hiccup's loving gaze that did not cease. It was almost impossible for him to take his eyes off her. Hiccup was looking pretty handsome himself. He wore a green short-sleeved tunic with a belt around his waist, a golden band sat on the crown of his head, and a fur cape wrapped around his neck and almost touched the ground.

He took his wife by the hand and eagerly led her into the tavern. The two watched several of the Vikings dance, including many of their friends, while they ate. Then, with a smirk on his face, Hiccup turned and stood in front of Astrid. He bowed and held out his hand.

"My lady, would you care to dance?"

"I would love to," Astrid replied, only the slightest hint of a blush on her face as she took his hand.

The two walked out on the dance floor, and though most of the audience had their eyes fixed on the young couple, as Hiccup took her hand in his, placing the other on her waist as she placed hers on his shoulder, the rest of the world disappeared. As they moved and spun, the lights and images of the tavern and the surrounding crowd turned into a blurred colorful collage in the background.

As the music changed tune, the couple stopped their mesmerizing dance. As others moved out on the dance floor, the young husband and wife stopped and stared into each other's eyes. As their eyes closed and their lips met in a slow and loving kiss, their hearts jumped for joy. Hiccup began to feel slightly lightheaded while his stomach felt like it was doing summersaults. When they separated and turned to rejoin the crowd, the couple and a few others gave a hearty laugh when they saw the children seated on the edge of a table facing the dancers, their hands covering their eyes. Saber even had his hand covering Hic's eyes.

While Hiccup never had another episode like he did on the mountain again, his nights were now haunted with terrible nightmares of the events that occurred all those years ago. Astrid was becoming increasingly worried about him, but the future Chief refused to let it affect him. He would just shoulder it and move on.

One morning, Hiccup awoke from his nightmare just as the sun was starting to peak over the horizon. Astrid rose up on one arm, turning to look at her husband. "Another nightmare?" Her question was more of a statement than a query.

"Yeah," Hiccup said.

Astrid rested her hand on his bare shoulder. Then she sat up, taking the other arm and embracing him from behind. "You don't have to keep this up Hiccup. You can take a break. You can rest, no one would blame you."

"Astrid, I can't. If I do, it'll just keep eating at me."He reached up and took her hands in his, then turned to gaze into her eyes. "Thank you for your concern," he leaned forward and quickly pressed his lips to hers. When they separated, he smiled at her. "I love you," he said before turning away and reaching for his prosthetic leg.

"What are you doing?" Astrid asked.

"I think I'm going to go for an extra long flight this morning," the Viking answered.

When Hiccup and Toothless returned from their morning flight, it was straight to Chieftain Training for the auburn haired Viking. He was met by his father and Gobber, and together they moseyed on through the village. Their first stop of the day was at the large pasture where the villagers kept most of their sheep.

"Now Hiccup," Stoic began with a voice that absolutely oozed with pride, though whether it was because of his son someday taking the title of Chief or because he was teaching Hiccup couldn't quite tell, "one of the most important resources we have are our sheep. Why is that?"

Hiccup couldn't help but to roll his eyes. Everyone on the island knew the answer to that. "Because they provide food and their wool keeps us from freezing to death," Hiccup relented, though he smirked at the shocked looks on the faces of the sheep.

"Exactly!" Stoic shouted, "Now, why do we keep them all together in one location?"

"So that it's easier to keep them safe," Hiccup responded.

"Right again, Hiccup!" Stoic said that as if it were an actually tough question. He then hopped over the fence and turned toward his son and Gobber, proceeding to give a speech about the Chief's duties to protect and nurture the sheep. Hiccup was only half listening, as he had heard all of this before, but his attention was entirely lost when he saw something amongst the sheep that sent a chill down his spine.

Amongst all the white wool, Hiccup spied the top of a blonde head that bobbed and weaved between the sheep. It was soon joined by another blonde head, which strapped a small saddle to one of the sheep. The loud "baaa" it let loose didn't bother Stoic in the slightest, but it got Gobber's attention. He immediately began scanning for the distressed sheep.

Hiccup's fears were confirmed when Saber soon appeared astride the saddle. He was belted to it, and then handed a stick with a piece of string tied to one end of it. Hanging on the other end of the string was a vegetable, which Saber began dangling in front of the animal's face. The sheep baaaed again and then proceeded to chase the vegetable, which bounced up and down but never got any closer to its mouth.

By now Gobber saw what was happening, and he tried to warn the pranksters' grandfather. "Stoic, you should-"

"Not now Gobber, I'm still teaching." Stoic cut him off, completely missing his son's gaping jaw.

The thing about sheep is that wherever one goes, the herd follows. This one sheep with Saber on it was chasing the piece of vegetable, so the rest followed- right towards the three adults. Stoic continued to ignore the frantic attempts of his son and his friend to warn him, so the two just ran out of the way as the herd ran into the Chief.

There was a loud crash as the sheep bowled over both the Viking and the wooden fence in front of them. When the last of the herd passed on, Hiccup and Gobber ran to the groaning and dazed Viking Chief lying on the ground. When they helped him up, they heard a whoop coming from Asta as she and Finn ran across the pasture after the sheep. Asta didn't look at them, but Finn had guilt and regret written all over his face.

"Sorry Dad! Sorry Grandpa!" The young Viking shouted.

"Finn, Asta!" Hiccup barked in a stern voice, "You get Saber off that sheep now!"

"Yes, Daddy," Asta said in a sing-song voice, unable to hide the giddiness from her plan's success.

In the shadows of the cliffs north of the village, a small sail boat came close enough the rocky face for its two occupants to latch on and begin climbing, leaving the small vessel tied to a rock jutting from the water's surface. The climbers were garbed in black tunics, with black, padded armor covering most of their bodies. The shorter one had a long black ponytail snaking out from under black cloth that wrapped her head and concealed all of her face but her brown eyes. The other climber wore a hood that completely obscured his head.

The climbers reached the topped and headed into the forest. They moved with absolute silence, not a single twig or leaf being disturbed by the silent figures. Yet, the creatures of the forest seemed to be alert to their presence, as the forest became dead silent and still while they passed. Finally, the two emerged from the trees on a stony hill overlooking the village.

"Now," the man's voice was cold and sent chills through his compatriot. "All you have to do is get in, kill him, and get out. There's no problem to it. Should you get caught, well I'll take care of that."

"What will you be doing master?" A young woman's voice spoke through the mask.

"That is for me to know and for you to find out later," her master replied. "Now, go."

It took the better part of the day to round up all the sheep. The sheep with the young Haddock attached to it was particularly difficult. After it finally managed to eat the vegetable, it went berserk at the realization of the human on its back. It ran to and fro, terrorized by Saber's mere presence. Needless to say, when Saber was finally secured, Hiccup was not a happy Viking.

"I can't believe you two!" The young father scolded his eldest children, "That was dangerous, somebody could have been seriously hurt. Especially your grandfather or your brother! What in Odin's name were you thinking?"

Even Asta hung her head at her father's words. Finn opened and closed his mouth a few times, but to no avail. No words came out. All that came to mind were simply excuses, no matter how true they were. Even if it was originally Asta's idea, it was Finn who included the saddle for Saber's safety.

Seeing that his children had nothing to say, Hiccup spoke again, but this time in a somewhat softer tone. "Go to the house and stay there until I get back. If your mom says anything, tell her I've already talked to you. Stay there and stay out of trouble."

The three younger Haddocks left and Hiccup returned to Stoic and Gobber to finish up for the day. They moved to the forge to inspect a pile of shields. Hiccup was in the act of holding one up, acting as if he were actually using it, when he suddenly spun to test his fluidity with the shield. While spinning, he felt and they all heard something thud against the shield. Hiccup looked to see a razor-sharp, star shaped piece of metal embedded in the shield.

He looked up from the shield to see a woman dressed completely in black sprinting towards him. She leapt into the air, her foot extended. Hiccup raised the shield, and the attacker simply switched from a kick to using the shield to propel herself over the heads of all three Vikings.

Once on the ground, she quickly darted forward. Her foot slammed against Gobber's peg-leg, causing him to fall to his knees. She turned and leapt with both feet into Stoic's brawny chest. She pushed off him, throwing him to the ground while landing back on her feet. But now there was a swarm of Vikings heading their way.

In a flash, the would be assassin climbed up a pile of firewood and leapt onto the roof of the house next to it. However, as she tried to escape along the rooftops, Hiccup decided to use a move that Astrid taught him. She called it the "Frisbee." Hiccup took off the shield and held the edge with his hands, twisting his body backwards as he did so. Suddenly he swung forward, angling the shield into the air. When he let go the circle of wood with its steel lining spun forward, at first looking like it was going to completely miss their attacker. Then, it angled further and changed directory, flying extremely fast and straight at the mysterious woman.

She leapt into the air towards another roof, but too late. The shield hit her square in the back in midair, knocking her to the ground. Quickly, the hoard of other Vikings gathered around her. When they brought her before Hiccup, Stoic, and Gobber, she struggled vainly against the massive arms that restrained her. When at last she seemed to have given up, Hiccup slowly approached her.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" he asked.

When she didn't answer, Hiccup reached up and undid the cloth wrapped around her head. The cloth fell to the ground to reveal a beautiful young woman. She had very tan skin, definitely not from anywhere nearby, as the sun was never out enough for anyone to get that tan. She had deep, brown eyes, and her hair was as black as Toothless' scales. The two stared at each other for a few seconds before Hiccup opened his mouth to speak again. However, it wasn't his voice that got everyone's attention.

"Hiccup!" Astrid's voice rang loud and clear, as did the panic it contained. Panic was not something Astrid did, and so it struck alarm and fear into the hearts of the other Vikings as well as her husband.

"Astrid!" Hiccup shouted back as he ran to her. She ran into his arms, her tearstained face burying itself into his shoulder. When she looked back into his face, Hiccup could see the fear in her eyes, and he wondered what could possibly strike such fear into this strong and brave woman's heart. "What is it?"

"The children," Astrid whispered, her words depositing the fear she felt deep into his own heart, "Hiccup, the children are gone."

Astrid had already heard of her children's latest exploit by the time they got to the house. She sent them in immediately, informing them that they would have a talk when their father got home. Then, she went around to the back of the house to practice her axe throwing.

She had only been at it for a few minutes when, as she was returning to the throwing point from retrieving the weapon, she noticed a hooded figure dressed in black a few yards away, watching her. She stopped and stared at the figure, her hands tightening around the handle of her battle axe as a great feeling of uneasiness flooded her mind, causing her heart to race. Then, the figure abruptly turned and began to walk- straight toward the house.

"Hey, you! Stop!" Astrid yelled as she ran to intercept him. He completely ignored her, only quickened his already brisk pace. Astrid broke out into an all-out sprint, raising her axe above her head as she charged.

"I said stop!" She shouted angrily before bringing the axe down towards the man. He moved in the blink of an eye. The curved and sharpened edge of the Viking weapon embedded into the ground, having missed its target completely. The hooded figure was now by her side, and before she could react, his balled fist smashed against her stomach with a surprisingly strong force. Astrid felt all the wind get knocked out of her and she reeled backwards, falling onto the grass. Groaning and furious, her blood hot and the familiar adrenaline of combat flowing into her veins; the Viking began to get up. However, all of controlled anger was wiped clean when, after she had risen to her knees, another blow came against the side of her head, and everything went black.

When she awoke, the first thing Astrid noticed was that her head was pounding. Then the memory of what happened returned, and the young woman shot to her feet, headache completely forgotten. She ran to the front of the house, only to find the door barely hanging on its hinges. The house itself was a mess, like a tornado had run through it. When she went around to where the dragons were, she found both of them trapped to the ground by powerful roots that definitely weren't there before. She quickly slashed the roots and rushed to find Hiccup.

The village quickly buzzed with activity as the Vikings began to search for the kidnapped Haddocks. Dragons and their riders took to the skies, flying low over the trees as they scanned for the missing children. The assassin was taken under guard to the tavern, allowing Hiccup and Astrid to join the search.

Yet, despite all this, they somehow missed the hooded figure entering his small boat, followed by a floating cage in which the young Haddocks were trapped. The children screamed and yelled, seeing the dragons in the sky, but no one heard them.

"You'll never get away with this," Finn said angrily to their mysterious kidnapper, "Our mom's a great warrior and our dad's a dragon master. They're gonna catch you."

The mysterious man had been concentrating on preparing to leave, but in a flash he was mere inches from the cave. His deep, cold voice penetrated the children with fear, "Trust me, you little headache… I'm counting on it."

I'm baaaack! For a while I didn't think I was going to, but now that I have time, I'm going to finish this thing. I'm also going to be working on another fanfic for the anime Sword Art Online at the same time. After that, I think I'm going to move on to writing my own works of fiction. Please review. And thank you to those who kept emailing for me to keep updating, sorry it took so long, but I was on a mission for about 10 months. I'll update soon!

Dark Guymelef