==And here we are! Chapter 4! Sorry it took a little longer to put up- in truth I had it mostly finished last week. But it is up now! I hope you like==

Chapter 4

Merida looked down at the calm water below her. Flying on the dragon was a lot more comfortable than being carried underneath it. She squeezed her arms just a little tighter around Hiccup's middle. It wasn't a frightened squeeze, but a peaceful, calming one.

Regardless, Hiccup turned his head to look at her.

Merida sighed in content. As crazy as flying was, she was actually enjoying it. It felt similar to when she had climbed the Crone's Tooth. The freedom was amazing.

"So, Princess Merida…" Hiccup began, turning his head again to look at her. She could see his cheeks color just the slightest bit.

"Yes, Hiccup?"

"We've been travelling a long way, and we've come this far lots of times. But, this is the first time we've encountered people on this island."

Merida nodded to herself, understanding the question he was asking. Why are they only meeting now, if this island was supposed to belong to her family?

"In the last few years, we've had our own share of troubles. A Demon Bear named Mor'Du; a witch giving me a spell that turned my mum into a bear, and a whole marriage fiasco. We haven't exactly had the time to travel here for the last few years."

"Oh. That does seem like a lot."

"Aye. But that's all in the past now. So we should be coming here every year from now on." Merida smiled, thinking of what joys the future years would bring.

"Do you think your father will be able to forgive me? Will he be willing to help us?" Hiccup's voice shook just the slightest bit, betraying the emotions he was trying to keep hidden. The worry: the fear. Merida's heart went out to the boy.

"Well… it's hard to say. I'll try my best to convince him, but I don't know what he'll say."

Hiccup nodded. He turned his head back around so he could see where they were going. It was silent the rest of the flight back to the camp.

Or at least, most of the way.

As the dragon and the two riders crossed over the forest that ran straight through the middle of the island, a volley of arrows rose from the brush. Merida gasped as one of the arrows flew past her cheek.

"Hiccup we have to get higher! They'll actually hit us from here!" Merida screamed.

Hiccup didn't respond but instead moved Toothless higher into the clouds. The volley of arrows followed, but soon they weren't able to reach, let alone be seen. The clouds were thick and pure white. Merida wished to reach out and touch the fluffy clouds, but was too afraid she'd fall.

All of a sudden, Toothless began to plummet to the earth. Merida screamed and buried her face into Hiccup's back, her arms wrapped tightly around his middle. It was a straight shot down, and Merida did not know how long they had been dropping, when Toothless evened out, and then landed with a light thud.

Merida opened her eyes and looked around. They had landed on the beach by her camp. The camp was eerily quiet. Pots and pans were strewn about the ground, as if someone had been grabbing things in a hurry. The boys' weapons had been lain carelessly on the shore beside Toothless, and the footprints were mostly washed away.

"What happened here?" Hiccup asked as Astrid and Snotlout landed to either side of the Night Fury.

Toothless grumbled deeply and readied himself for takeoff. Merida jumped down from the dragon and picked up Harris' bludgeon. She had never enjoyed bludgeons, but it was the closest weapon to her. She began to walk up the shore into camp, her eyes darting every which way, trying to spot any dangers. Something had happened here: this didn't happen because she had been kidnapped.

"Princess, you shouldn't go off on your own." Hiccup protested, dismounting Toothless and jogging after her.

"I'll be fine. I'm not so helpless you know."

"Uh…"

"Hiccup. My family's out there. Something happened to them. I'm not just going to sit here and wait." Merida turned to face the one legged boy. "If we don't find them, you are out allies."

Hiccup nodded and pulled out a small dagger from his tunic. "But you still shouldn't go alone."

Merida smiled. It was nice knowing that, even though they had just met, Hiccup was willing to help her out. But it was too dangerous to have them come with her. Besides, she wasn't weak or defenseless. All she needed was her bow, and a quiver full of arrows. Astrid and Snotlout had dismounted their dragons and were now walking up the shore to where Hiccup stood.

"I'm going to find my arrows. Stay put, I'll be right back."

Hiccup nodded and turned to talk to the other riders. Astrid unsheathed her giant battle ax and Snotlout shrugged his shoulders, pointing to his dragon. Merida continued to glance behind her as she slid farther away from the dragons and their riders. She saw Hiccup shake his head. And then she found her arrows.

Quickly she bent over and put them all in her quiver. She swung the quiver over her shoulder and glanced over her shoulder again. Hiccup was arguing with Snotlout over something, and Astrid was sharpening her ax.

Merida sighed. She didn't know what dangers could be waiting for her in the forest beyond. But she did know that she needed to find her family. And that was exactly what she was going to do. She steeled her nerves with a deep breath. She looked over at the dragon riders again, ensuring no one was watching her.

Then, she ran.

"Snotlout, you didn't bring any weapons with you? What would happen if you and Hookfang got separated?"

"What kind of Viking are you?" Astrid asked in annoyance, grabbing a rock to sharpen the blade of her battle ax.

"Hey I didn't think that this would happen." Snotlout grumbled, looking over to his dragon. "Hookfang, you gonna help me here?"

Hookfang had been looking up at the sky, and at the sound of his name, turned to look at his rider. He made a sort of growl and went back to looking at the sky.

"Ugh. Worthless dragon."

"Snotlout, maybe you should go back to the camp. It looks like we'll probably need everyone else too. Right Hiccup?" Astrid said, dropping the rock and swinging her ax lightly.

"Uh… yeah. Yeah that's a good idea. Go get the others. It looks like Hookfang really wants to leave anyway."

"Alright. I'll go."

"Hurry back though. We're going to head out as soon as the Princess gets back." Hiccup called as Snotlout mounted his dragon and took off into the sky.

"Speaking of…" Astrid said, looking around the camp. "How long does it take to find her arrows?"

Hiccup looked around. There was no sign of movement. No bright red hair, no blue dress. There was nothing. Hiccup smacked his hand to his face.

"I just fell for the oldest trick in the book. She ditched us. Toothless!"

Toothless and Stormfly ran up the shore at Hiccup's desperate call.

"Hiccup, if she didn't want us with her, then maybe we should respect her wishes."

"Astrid. We need her father to agree to help us. You know that Dagur's army has something that is repelling our dragons. Without them, how do we stand a chance? Most, if not all, of our weapons rely on our dragons."

Astrid nodded. "I know. I just…"

"Just what, Astrid?"

Toothless moved between the two teens and warbled expectantly. He nodded toward the saddle.

"Never mind."

"Alright then let's get going. She couldn't have gotten far." Hiccup said as he mounted Toothless.

"Hiccup." Astrid's voice was strangely soft.

"What now Astrid?"

"Look."

Hiccup looked to where the blonde was pointing and saw a small blue figure. It stood in one place, but wiggled slightly, making little whispers. It seemed to be beckoning to them. Toothless raised his ears and tilted his head. He opened his mouth and his tongue lolled out just the slightest bit. He looked like he was trying to concentrate. Then he took a cautious step. Then another, and another.

"Toothless! Come on bud, you need to stop. We don't know what that thing is, it could be dangerous!"

As Toothless approached the blue object, it disappeared with a little call. It sounded like the little blue thing had said "Oh" as it disappeared. Toothless froze. He looked around for the blue creature, but it didn't show up.

"Well, that was weird. Do you think Fishlegs might have information on that thing?" Hiccup asked as he turned to Astrid.

"I don't think so."

Toothless warbled and began walking forward once more. Hiccup turned and saw more blue creatures appearing in a line going deeper into the forest. Stormfly followed closely on Toothless' heels, just as intrigued as Toothless was.

"Well, whatever it is, it looks like we're following them."

"Let's hope they aren't dangerous."