The two rode in silence four hours. The journey so far had been uneventful, and Merida was starting to get very bored. Finally, she decided to try and make conversation with Hiccup "So you never finished telling me about that girl in Berk you like so much," she said.

Hiccup smiled at the thought, "Oh, yeah, her. She's nice, but she's tough at the same time."

Merida nodded, "What's her name?"

"Astrid," Hiccup answered.

"Does she like you too?" Merida asked.

Suddenly, Hiccup's face darkened and he looked at the ground. "Well, she did," he answered.

"What do you mean she did?" Merida inquired.

Hiccup sighed, "Well, she's dead."

"Oh," Merida answered, feeling guilty for bringing up the subject. "I'm sorry."

Hiccup shook is head, "Don't apologize. It wasn't your fault."

"Do you feel like taking about it?" Merida asked.

Hiccup hesitated, "I guess it might feel nice to get my feelings out to some one," he finally said. "Like I said, she was great. She rode dragons, too. We used to ride over Berk and go visit all the isles. We mapped and explored them together. But, one day, there was an attack. A tribe came and tried to take over Berk. We defeated them, but Astrid died in the battle," Hiccup explained.

"Oh…" Merida said, "Is that why you didn't want to be betrothed? You still felt loyal to her?"

Hiccup nodded, "Yeah. Her death is the reason my dad wanted me to be betrothed. He figured that meeting some one else might help me."

"I'm so sorry," Merida answered softly, "You must feel terrible."

"Yeah, I do. But we have more important things to focus on than Astrid," Hiccup reminded her.

"Oh, yeah, I suppose so," Merida answered. The two ended the conversation and continued through the forest, not saying a word to each other.