Merida clung to the young boy, "So any plans to go somewhere specific?" She said, wrapping her arms around Hiccup's waist.
He smiled, "He'll take us somewhere, we just have to trust him."
Merida smiled and looked down at the lights left up from earlier, "I never dreamed I'd be seeing this place from here."
Hiccup looked back at her, she seemed almost sad, "Is that a bad thing?"
"No." She seemed distracted.
Hiccup looked down at his dragon, who was looking at him. The dragon got the message in Hiccup's eyes 'We need to be alone.'
The dragon didn't disappoint. He found an isolated island that seemed to be in the middle of the ocean.
"Aidan, what are we doing here?" She asked when they landed.
Hiccup looked at her, he hated when she called him by that name but for the time being she couldn't know who he was, "You wanted to get to get away, that's what Toothless and I are here for."
"Ye don't even know me!" She joked.
"I know when people want away from something, believe me."
They flew in comfortable silence until Hiccup spotted a lone island off in the distance, it all looked to be completely level, with only one small forest in the center of the island, surrounded by white sandy shores, "How does over there look?"
"Perfect!" Merida smiled.
They landed on the shore of the island, Merida jumped off the dragon and ran to the shore, letting the water lap at her feet. Hiccup smiled, as he watched the girl happily let the warm water cover her feet.
She turned to Hiccup, smiling widely, "Aidan, this is amazing!"
He smiled at her, "I'm glad you like it. So… You know I have to ask about the whole… Suitor thing… Right?"
Merida's smile dimmed, but she walked over to Hiccup. She sat down across from him, "Well, isn't it obvious? I'm the princess! I have to marry one of the lord's sons. I just want my freedom, and I want to find someone for myself."
Hiccup felt his face turn red, as he silently thanked the darkness, "Well… Why those lords? What makes them so special?"
Merida shrugged, "We have an alliance with them. If I don't marry one of them our clans could go back to war, then if the Vikings attacked we're all defenseless."
Hiccup's stomach jumped. 'Great. This makes everything much simpler.' He thought, "Well… What about the Vikings?"
"What about them?" Merida asked, confused.
"Well I mean, doesn't the Viking chief have a son? What about him?"
Merida scoffed, "My dad would never let that happen! Besides, I've never even met him. And from what I heard most of those Vikings are more interested in killing than marriage."
"Not all Vikings are like that…" Hiccup said, quietly, dragging a stick across the sand.
Merida looked over at Hiccup, studying his face. Hiccup could feel her eyes roaming his face intently, but he couldn't look at her, "Aidan… That's… That's not your name… Is it?"
Hiccup felt his stomach drop. 'Oh-no.'