Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I've been really busy without much time to work on the chapters, but I wanted to get something out. Thank you all for bearing with me. Reviews make me smile. :) Thanks. Virtual Pancakes for everyone with toppings of choice!

Astrid's POV

She walked through the village. It was dark, but the sun was slowly rising in the horizon. She only had a few more hours before broad daylight hit-and then it would be so much harder to find Hiccup without alerting any Berserkers of her presence.

Astrid ran through the village on her toes, just barely making contact with the ground. It had only been about five hours so far, and yet through her five hours of searching, she still hadn't seen any sign of Hiccup.

"This is useless!" she shouted accidentally, throwing her axe down on the ground. She quickly picked it up again before continuing to run around in a rampage, searching for her friend.

"Oh Hiccup where are you?" she asked no one in particular.

She ran and ran until she came up to a place that looked much like the training academy on Berk. She ran over quickly, but not before she was pounced by a Monstrous Nightmare.

She pinned Astrid down and snarled into her face. But then suddenly, her face softened, and she got off her.

Astrid stood up shakily and looked at the dragon. She was calm...well, calm-er than any other wild dragon she had met. She looked at the dragon again, and a thought suddenly occurred to her.

What if this dragon wasn't all wild? Was it possible that Hiccup had partially trained it?

"Hello?" Astrid asked the Nightmare. The dragon cocked its head sideways, studying Astrid. "I don't know if you can understand me," said Astrid, "but something tells me you can. Do you know where Hiccup is?"
The dragon looked at Astrid as if deciding whether she would work better as a chew toy or a meal.

"Hiccup," said Astrid. "A human, like me," she gestured to herself.

The dragon cooed and turned her head towards the arena. Astrid looked at it again, before addressing the dragon.

"Is he in there?" she asked.

The dragon nodded slightly. Astrid turned around. She was far from the beach, but maybe the Nightmare would let her get on her back, and help rescue Hiccup.

"Can-can you help me?" asked Astrid.

Astrid knew the dragon could understand her. The Monstrous Nightmare nodded eagerly.

"Okay then," said Astrid. "You're going to have to let me get on your back-"

Astrid moved over to the dragon's back before slowly jumping on. The dragon shuddered slightly as she did so, but let Astrid stay on.

"Okay, girl," said Astrid. "Let's see about these Berserkers."

The dragon moved back towards the arena. Seeing it deserted, Astrid hopped off the Nightmare and looked in. Wow. It was completely deserted.

Astrid continued to look down. She got down on her stomach near the edge and looked in, and continued to look. She knew Dagur would try to get Hiccup to train his dragons. She just knew it. She knew that this was where they would do it, seeing all the cages of trapped dragons.

The Nightmare copied Astrid's movements, laying directly beside the eighteen year old girl.

"He's down there somewhere," said Astrid. "And if he's not down there now, he will be soon. We just have to wait." She ran her fingers over Hiccup's shield. "I wish I knew how to work this thing," she uttered dolefully. "It would come in handy."

She continued to watch. The biggest of the cages was rattling and shaking, making Astrid feel uneasy. She could just hope that whatever dragon was behind it wouldn't break out somehow.

She continued looking, earnestly searching for anything that would lead her to Hiccup. She didn't know Berserk; she only knew where it was. She hadn't really ever been there before, either.

"Do you know where they're keeping him?" Astrid asked the Nightmare, not expecting the dragon to know. Just like she figured, the dragon shook her head and grunted, really wishing she did.

"We'll find him," said Astrid to herself and the dragon. "We'll find him. We just have to."