The search party scouted the entire village, except for a remote cove blocked by boulders. The entrance was too small for your average Viking to squeeze through.
But Hiccup wasn't your average Viking, and that's what worried Stoick: all sorts of clues to his whereabouts could lurk in that cove, and no one could get at them.
And then Spitelout reminded him of the Hofferson girl. "She's got a lot of strength, unlike your boy, but she's about his size in height and girth. Maybe she could fit through the entrance."
Of course! Stoick thought to himself. Why hadn't he thought of that?
He asked Astrid to check for the cove for them, a task she gladly accepted.
And so the beauty set off, leaving Stoick to worry in his hut.
Astrid squeezed through the entrance to the cove with ease, but found herself looking down from a great height.
She sighed. This just couldn't get any harder, could it?
But apparently it could. Because the height was due to a large pile of boulders, all precariously stacked one on top of the other.
Astrid slowly slid down them, reflecting either that Hiccup had more agility than she did, or she was out of shape.
She didn't find anything of interest in the cove, until she spotted the paper.
It was written in Hiccup's cramped handwriting, and she drank in the words greedily.
But she found herself with more questions than answers at the end, and brought it back to the chief.
He read it slowly, his eyes widening in some parts and narrowing in others.
Well, I'm just sitting in the cove with Toothless now. I was trying to draw him, but he's too darn excited to sit still.
Useless reptile.
Anyway, he's real excited to see me today, maybe because of the fact that I told him today.
Yeah, I know I've just been entertaining the notion before, but this time it's decided: I'm going to run away.
I don't really want to leave; who will help Gobber in the forge, or smirk at Snotlout's misguided attempts to get Astrid, or heck, even watch over Dagur when that hellion visits Berk again?
But…I can't stay here. Every time I think of staying, I get this really heavy feeling, and I just know that I've reached my lowest point so far, and if I stay, it will just get lower.
Anyway, enough of that.
Today is not a day to get depressed, Hiccup. Today is a day to be happy. Look at Toothless – he's delighted, even though he knows he's going to miss Berk.
He didn't really want to stay either.
Well, I guess that in these next few days I'll be saying a lot of good byes.
Not out loud, of course. No one can know I'm planning to run.
But maybe with luck we can
The journal entry ended there. The edge of the page was jagged, as though it had been shredded, and Stoick suspected it had.
But by who?
Had this "Toothless" perhaps, done something to the paper? From the sound of it, the Toothless in the entry sounded suspiciously like a dragon.
Phrases from the journal entry ran through Stoick's mind: useless reptile, today is not a day to get depressed, I'll be saying a lot of good byes, I've reached my lowest point so far…reached my lowest point so far…my lowest point so far…my lowest point…
A/N: Anyway, hey guys! I'll try to work on this one more often, but I'm reaching a block! :P Anyway, I've also reached a block in my other stories, not to mention I MIGHT attempt Camp Nano Wrimo in April, so the most you guys will get from me in these next few months will probably be one-shots. I'll try to keep this updated, though!