"You will?" Astrid asked in disbelief. She stared at Hiccup with eyes wide. "Am I hearing things or did you just agree to take me home?"
"There aren't that many options for me unless I want my attempt to avoid war to be unsuccessful."
The princess studied Hiccup in the dark for a moment as though to see if there was any change in his features that would tell he wasn't being serious.
"Well, that certainly was quick," she finally said, still surprise clear in her voice. "I thought I would have to…never mind."
Hiccup raised his eyebrow at her unfinished sentence, but knowing how little time they had, he didn't tell her to elaborate. He hopped back on Toothless and waited for Astrid to do the same. The prince reached out his hand once more so that the princess could grab it for support. Her hands hadn't warmed up even one bit.
As Astrid was about to get on Toothless, Hiccup realised how unfitting his clothes were for this; he hadn't prepared for his journey to go on further than the borders of Berk, so he hadn't put on his flight suit – instead he had chosen the darkest pieces of clothing he could find from the depths of his wardrobe. At least the princess was wearing her own flight suit which Hiccup still hadn't gotten a proper look at. The only thing he had noted was it was nothing like he had expected to see on a princess. It was…the furthest from princess-clothing. Did she ever wear dresses inside the castle? She wasn't anything like other princesses Hiccup had met in his life. Others would have never risked their lives for a dragon, most probably didn't even know how to ride one. As far as the prince knew, the only duty a princess had was to train herself to become a queen, but it was obvious that Princess Astrid wasn't about that life. Hiccup wasn't sure if that made him uncomfortable or interested.
No, definitely not interested.
Once Astrid was securely on Toothless, the dragon darted towards the woods.
"Aren't you going to fly?" Astrid shouted behind him, trying to make her voice heard through the sound of Toothless' paws breaking all fallen branches and hitting the dry grass.
"I need to think and come up with something to act on before I move an inch towards Briral. Toothless will take us to a place in the woods where we can't be seen," Hiccup explained, his mind focused on the path ahead of them. He tried to listen for any sounds that might come from Berk's knights, but that turned out to be impossible.
Astrid didn't reply, or Hiccup just couldn't hear it, and they didn't exchange another word after that. It wasn't long until they were at the spot the prince had in his mind, so the silence didn't last long enough for it to become awkward.
There was a large rock at the edge of the woods, and its bottom was completely covered in bushes and other plants. The large trees and their leaves blocked the view from the sky, and there was a small and narrow cave that was still large enough for the three of them to fit in. The only reason Hiccup knew of this place was because of the maps he had to do. When he had drawn that rock on the map of this area, he had decided to keep the fact that it was the perfect hiding spot completely to himself. Back then it was something he just didn't find important to mention, but right now he was mentally worshipping the past him for doing that.
When they were by the entrance, they both got off Toothless. Hiccup wordlessly motioned towards the cave and Astrid looked at it for a few seconds before nodding. They walked in a crouch inside it, followed by the Night Fury that filled almost the entire space.
Both Hiccup and Astrid sat down on the wet ground. The prince hugged his knees and pressed his forehead against them, trying to get his brain to work. He was running on very little sleep; last night he didn't sleep because the princess sitting next to him messed up with his mind, and it didn't seem like he would be getting any sleep tonight either. He hoped his tiredness wouldn't be obvious because he didn't want Astrid to realise how big of an effect she had had on him with her words.
What should he do? He didn't think any of the options he had at hand were particularly good, which made him think whether this was worth all the trouble after all. Sure, if Astrid didn't die in Berk, there wouldn't be the most bloodthirsty war known to mankind, but did it really make that big of a difference? If the only heir to the throne of Briral died, the kingdom would be doomed anyway.
But there was truth to what he had said to Astrid when they were still within Berk's walls. She hadn't done anything to deserve to die like that. She had only come after something she cared about, and she seemed really honest about everything she said, which meant that there wasn't anything malicious in her intentions. She only wanted to have a civilised talk with Hiccup, however questionable her way of reaching him was.
The prince didn't have the slightest clue how he would be explaining this to Stoick. Hiccup was the one in the lead when the warning bell went off and he was supposed to tell the knights and guards how they would separate and which parts of the kingdom grounds they'd search. His absence wouldn't go unnoticed, and the fact that he, his dragon and the princess of Briral disappeared at the same time sounded alarming even in his ears. It would still be at least a day until he was back in Berk, and that was just enough time for his father to assume the worst of things and declare another war on Briral.
He truly was on the black list of the gods.
"What are you thinking of?" he heard Astrid speak. Hiccup had no idea how long they had been silent, but apparently it had been long enough for him to be startled by the appearance of the princess' voice.
The prince raised his head slightly to look at Astrid. He couldn't see much though as the night was moonless and no light was shed on the cave. He needed to wait a couple moments before his eyes adjusted to the darkness again. Toothless had his back on them and he was looking outside, his ears twitching in search of unwanted sounds.
"This situation is just so messed up. No matter what we end up doing, things will end badly."
Astrid didn't say anything for a while, but even in the dark Hiccup could tell that she was thinking on his words. When she finally spoke, it was in a low and sad voice: "I guess you're right. We can't go back now because Berk is swarming with knights, so we can't get to Stormfly tonight." She sighed loudly and placed her chin on her knees while staring at the back of Toothless absent-mindedly. "I've never been separated from Stormfly this long."
Hiccup couldn't stop himself from asking: "If what you say is true and she is yours, why did she come with our dragons when she has a bond with you?"
"There must have been something in that trap she stepped on, probably some poison or venom of an animal because she hasn't been the same since. She was supposed to be checked on the day after you attacked, but… oh, Stormfly, you chose the worst time to not let a stranger come to you!"
"You waited almost a week until you decided to seek for help?" Hiccup asked, raising his eyebrow.
The princess turned her attention from Toothless to the prince. He couldn't see the expression on her face, so he was slightly taken aback when she spoke. Her voice was barely a whisper, but it was a clear mixture of hurt and anger: "You don't know anything so don't act like you're in a position to judge me."
Hiccup blinked and looked at the girl questioningly. So far Astrid had maintained her calmness so well that he thought it was the only emotion flowing in her veins, but something about the subject had stung her deeply. He couldn't help wanting to know more, but as he was about to speak up, he realised that he still hadn't decided on what to do.
Astrid seemed to have been thinking the same, for she spoke before Hiccup's brain even commanded his mouth to move: "Is this forest safe?" Her voice was almost back to normal, though it sounded much stiffer than what the prince was used to.
"It doesn't belong to any kingdom if that's what you're asking," he responded. "The closest kingdom is Berk and we're only a couple miles from it, but that doesn't make it safe for us as you're an escaped prisoner and I am currently practising treason."
"What would your father do if he found out?" Astrid asked as if that was a question Hiccup should've been expecting.
"You should know what happens when someone is guilty of treason. If I'm lucky, I would be hanged, if not, I would be banished. Either way, my father would hate me for the rest of his life. However, I don't suppose we have much time until we're found here, so a plan needs to be made and quickly."
"What if you go and get Stormfly while I wait here?" Astrid suggested. "You entering Berk is, you know, expected."
"My father would never let me go if he found out that I have returned home. It's also too risky."
"We could both enter Berk, I hide myself in the stables and when nobody's around, I will take my dragon and fly off."
"That's just stupid, and you'd be caught immediately. It will take a few days until the king orders the knights and guards back to their own positions and I don't have time to keep you hidden for that long, so you re-entering is out of question."
"So, what do you suggest then?" she asked.
Now it was Hiccup's turn to swift his gaze towards Toothless to think. It looked like the dragon wasn't paying any attention to them, but the prince knew better; the Night Fury was incredibly clever and Toothless was capable of studying his surroundings while listening to what was happening around him. Hiccup knew that his dragon was following every word of the conversation between the royals.
As Hiccup thought, he noted how the damp ground had made his bottom all wet, and how the chilliness of the cave was starting to get to his bones. Although he was good at handling coldness – it was Berk he lived in after all – he always chose to not be purposefully cold if he had a choice to make, so that made it clear that they couldn't stay in that cave for much longer.
Suddenly Toothless let out a muffled growl. Both Hiccup and Astrid snapped their heads towards the cave entrance and listened hard. They could hear footsteps and flapping of dragons' wings somewhere nearby and knights speaking to one another. The prince could recognise most of the voices. Now he hoped that the dragons they were using wouldn't have good noses because it wouldn't be difficult to track down such a unique species like a Night Fury.
Hiccup wished the cave was deeper so that they could hide themselves better, but they were already at the back and it was almost too small for Toothless to fit in completely. The prince knew that they wouldn't find them if they didn't know to look for the cave, but he also knew that Berk's knights would leave no part of the forest uncovered.
"Oh my gods," Astrid whispered so silently there was barely any sound. "Oh my–"
She was cut off by Hiccup's hand that he pressed against her mouth to silence her. He kept it there for a few seconds before Astrid grabbed it with her own hand and forcefully jerked it away.
They sat still, holding their breaths and waiting for something to happen. At times it felt like the voices were fading, but the next moment it felt as though they were closer than ever before. After a moment Hiccup realised that the knights had split which was why the voices seemed to come from all directions. From the sounds of it, the prince assumed there were approximately five knights and a dragon for each.
If a person could die from stress, he was sure he would drop dead any second.
It felt like the knights were lingering around far too long. Hiccup had a wild thought that they knew they were hiding in the cave and were just waiting for them to come out sooner or later. In reality, he hadn't the slightest clue how much time had passed, but it for sure felt like a small eternity. He was thankful about the fact that Toothless was an incredibly wise dragon that realised the seriousness of the situation – many other dragons would've sprinted out of the cave to greet their dragon friends, but the Night Fury didn't move a muscle and remained silent.
There were footsteps really close to the cave entrance now. Hiccup felt trapped in the small space and panic began bubbling inside him as he tried to press harder against the back of the cave. He wasn't really paying attention to what he was doing, for his eyes were glued to the entrance he saw just a small glimpse of due to the size of his dragon. There was no way that the knight wouldn't notice the cave from where he was now.
Hiccup feverishly thought of excuses that would explain why he was with their prisoner and, more importantly, why she was still alive. His other hand was ghosting on the handle of his sword that was attached to his belt from the scabbard. His body felt suddenly very warm which was probably caused by the adrenaline. The prince felt his heart against his ribcage, and it was a wonder that the sound that came out of it wasn't enough to catch the knight's attention.
They could see his legs. Then he crouched down to look inside the cave. It was Sir Fairfax. Hiccup wanted to cry out of relief, but he kept himself together. He removed his hand from his sword and tried to calm himself down as he stared at Fairfax.
It was so dark they couldn't see each other properly, but the knight seemed to have understood what was going on, for he stood up without saying a word to them.
"Nothing here, how about on the other side of the rock?" they heard Sir Fairfax shout to another knight.
"Nothing here, either," another voice answered.
"I wasn't expecting her to stay this close to Berk. Let's move towards west, she's most likely trying to get back to Briral. She doesn't have a dragon with her, so let's keep on searching the forest," Fairfax said and received responses of agreement.
That was a hidden clue. Sir Fairfax had given them a way to move forward without being noticed. While the knights were on the ground, they'd be up in the air.
Only when the sounds of the knights and their dragons had completely faded could Hiccup breathe freely again. He felt his senses return to his body and his heartbeat was slowly going back to normal. The prince looked to his side and realised that Astrid and his bodies were, once again, pressed against each other, but this time it was just their sides that were touching. There wasn't any room for him to move away from the princess because she had pushed herself so tightly against him that his other, Astrid-free side, was now leaning on the other cave wall.
Hiccup coughed. Astrid looked at him with dilated eyes, still distraught from being almost caught. The prince dropped his gaze on their sides, then looked at Astrid again.
"Wha–" she began as she looked down, "Oh!" what was came out of her mouth when she moved herself as far from Hiccup as she could in the narrow cave.
They crawled out of their hiding place and looked around them. It was now dead silent everywhere, the only sound came from the wind that was blowing through the hardwood trees.
"I think there's only one solution that could work," Hiccup said, finally answering Astrid's question. She turned her head in a blur to look at the prince. "I will take you to Briral. On the way we can figure out how to deliver that dragon to you."
Astrid nodded slowly as she thought about his suggestion. "Sounds good. And please, her name is Stormfly, you may use it."
"Calling her that is like admitting that she's yours."
"She is."
"You know that your words don't hold much value to me, don't you?"
Astrid sighed and dropped the subject at that. "So, how will we go on from here?"
"We will fly."
"By the edge of the woods. There we can seek shelter from the forest if we see any dragon riders in the air."
Hiccup nodded. "Precisely, that's what I was thinking too. They think you don't have a dragon on you so they will search the ground."
"So they won't probably even know to look at the sky!" Astrid said triumphantly and her face split into a small smile.
"Yep," the prince answered shortly. "Let's go."
"Aww, look at us," the princess said in an almost-mocking tone which made Hiccup turn around to look at her with a questioning look. "We're already cooperating."
The prince rolled his eyes. "Just…shut up."
Astrid let out another 'aww' before they climbed on Toothless and began their journey towards the edge of the woods and Briral.
Let me know what you think of this story so far! Your comments and support mean the world to me and they keep me super motivated :)