BACK ON BERK~

Six months of parties and traveling can really take it out of a Viking. No one knew this more so than Hiccup's motley crew. It had been an exciting trip for the entire village, but everyone was ready to get back to their normal lives. At least for another three or so years before the next gathering.

Moring their ships, the villagers began the arduous task of emptying the boats of what remained of their supplies. This task however, was one Hiccup and the others had graciously decided to skip out on. After all, it had been months of parties and traveling, and no one wanted their vacation being ended by thoughts of work.

Both Marble and Toothless joined them as they snuck away from the docks and into the narrow passages behind the huts. These passages led to the upper most section in the village, and kept them out of sight while the other Vikings finished the work.

Leading the way, Marble knew exactly what he was looking for, and seeing as breeding season hadn't worked out so well, he couldn't wait to see his rider again. The last time he had seen her she hadn't been entirely too happy, but he was sure she'd be over it by now. This thought came from his understanding that human emotions seemed to be very temporary things.

Making his way to the third hut from the top of the hill, Marble pawed at the door. However, unlike usual the door swung open with ease. Unsure what to make of this, he proceeded to make his way inside with caution. Never before had she left the door unhinged for someone to simply push their way inside. Upon entering he saw what truly waited for him in the near darkness of the hut.

Nothing.

The room that had only months before been filled with Ember's belongings, now stood bare and cold. Not one scrap of parchment was left to scatter the floor, and the fire pit sat colder than the ground surrounding it. Obviously, it had been a long time since anyone had dwelled in this room, and sniffing he air he could find no trace of her. His heart raced as he tried to understand.

"She's gone." Alyssa stood leaning against the door frame behind him with both arms crossed. Sadness played through her posture and tone like a melody, and clutching both fist as tight as she could her eyes focused on Marbles face. "When Frankie and myself…when we came back three months ago she had already been gone for a long time."

Ever since he had become partners with Ember, Marble had learned to understand the vast majority of the human's language, and at hearing Alyssa's words his heart dropped. Gone…she's gone? Fear and anxiety took control of Marble's action's immediately, and roaring loudly he raced out the door and into the village.

-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-

"What do you mean she's gone?" Astrid slammed her fist firmly into the wall next to Frankie's head. "She can't just up and vanish!"

Looking both surprised and understanding, Frankie moved out of Astrid's range and stoked the fire. It was very hard to explain Ember's disappearance to the others without being saddened by the situation as well. "She was mad maybe…or sad…perhaps a little of both."

"What did she think she was doing?" Hiccup stood awe stuck in front of the group. "It was only six months, it's not like we were leaving forever." Trying to think it though logically, he could come up with no clear reasoning."

"She's being a child. That's all this is." Astrid had had enough of Ember's attitude. "She can't go to the festival, and suddenly she doesn't wasn't to live here anymore?"

Closing her eyes, Frankie sighed. "It's deeper than that." Gesturing to Beryl, she watched as the small dragon unrolled a large cot on the floor. On the cot was a mess of black ink and splotches. "You see, it wasn't the fact that she couldn't go that bothered her…though I do think that played a part in it." Holding out a hand, Frankie motioned the others over to the cot. "Go on then, read what it says."

Making their way over to it, everyone felt a sudden tightness form in their chest. In black ink there stood two words in bold.

STRANGER…OUTSIDER…

Thinking back at the day they had departed, Astrid remembered some of the last few words she had spoken to Ember.

"Way to go Astrid, real smooth." Ruffnut elbowed her in a disappointed fashion.

"W-well…what I meant was that she wasn't family." Guilt was the last thing Astrid felt in her moment of anger. It was because of a couple of words that everyone looked at her for the fault. A couple of words that she perceived as being taken the wrong way. "It's not my fault!"

"You are correct my dear." Standing in the door way was a short elderly woman with long white hair and a tall staff. It was the village's eldest member, and the wisest of all the Vikings. Her name was one every Viking knew, but also one that was forbidden to speak out of respect for her title.

"Elder!" Astrid along with more than half the group took a knee in respect. "What are you doing here when you're home is-"

"I foresaw this many months ago as we planned the great journey to the mother land. You're friend has run off has she not?" Hobbling into the hut, the Elder gave the signal for all to stand. "I watched every last one of you get excited, and I watched every last one of you push Ember to the side." Feeling Marble directly behind her she closed her eyes and looked over her shoulder. "Even you did so in preparation for the season."

"But Elder, we each attended a family event…no str-" Astrid stopped mid sentence as the Elders staff touched her lips. I don't understand…

"Such a shame…I would have thought this a lesson learned by now, however it seems you have each missed the true meaning of family." Shaking her head in disappointment the Elder turned away from the group admittedly ashamed. "Now is the time to make a choice…do you go find your friend? Or do you let her go as you would any other stranger?" With that the elderly woman hobbled out of the hut and out of sight.

What did that old hag mean by pushed her away? The memory of the days before he had departed had been blurred due to the hold his instinct had had on him. Knowing he might never see his rider again tore at him with a pain he had never before experienced. True, their bond as dragon and rider had grown over the years, but how could something hurt like this? He HAD do find her.

"Well, what are we going to do?" Still feeling that Ember had blown things far out of proportion, Astrid attempted to hide her anger. She didn't do a very good job.

"The only thing we can do is go get her." Hiccup hated to think that he would be departing from Berk the vary day he had returned, but under the circumstances he could think of no other option. "But I'm afraid we can't ALL go along for the trip. Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Fishlegs will have to stay behind."

With a slight grin riding across their faces the few people mentioned backed toward the door.

"Aww~ that sucks." Ruffnut looked to Tuffnut and the two of them bolted out the door followed by Fishlegs and Snotlout.

"Well, glad to see them look so down about it." Watching with a rather 'I expected that' kind of look, Hiccup sighed. "I know none of us want to go, but she's a friend and we should at least talk to her."

"But Hiccup we don't even know where she's sailed off too." Astrid held her head in total disbelief. If she doesn't want to be here anymore, then I say we should just-! Looking over she could see the look of pain him Marbles eyes. …Go look for her. "I don't know exactly what the elder meant by what she said…all I know is that when I find Ember, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind."

"Actually, I think I have a pretty good idea where she went." Smiling proud of herself, Frankie picked Beryl up by the tail and placed him on the wall. "Show em Beryl."

Five seconds passed and the small Terrible Terror did nothing but stare blankly at the map on the wall. Another five seconds and still nothing… Finally, after a minute and a half of silence the small dragon crawled to the ceiling and hung upside down from the chandelier. Within seconds it began to snore.

Everyone: Useless…

"Well I think she would go here." Picking up a small poker, Frankie pointed to the mountains on the mainland far-east. "This mountain range is the largest in the known world and it stretches for hundreds of miles in all directions… The region is known as the dark zone, and it has some of the best hunting around."

"Then I guess we know where we're going." Hiccup looked around the room. "Go get Alyssa and get Beryl off the ceiling. We're leaving as soon as we can."