Here you go! Chapter 11! Hope you're enjoying the story! This story is turning out to be a lot longer than what I originally planned, which is a good thing! I also hope I'm getting Heather's personality correct in the story, let me know if you guys feel like I'm not. As per usual, enjoy!

Chapter Eleven: A leap of faith

"Right, Astrid, help me pin up these maps." Hiccup said, handing a handful of maps to her.

Nodding, she began to slide some of the maps over some nails that were stuck out of the wall. "Are all the maps needed or just a few of them?" Astrid asked out loud, turning to look at Heather.

"It would help if we had all of them up." Heather replied "It'll help us chart a course."

Matt glanced over at Heather, raising an eyebrow out of suspicion "Chart a course? Didn't know we were going somewhere."

"Well, I'm just suggesting that we go somewhere." Heather said, realizing that Matt was still suspecting her of betraying them "I don't know where to, since I've only been to Dagur's dragon prison."

"Where's that at?" Hiccup asked, finishing hanging his maps. Turning to look at her, he then asked "Why does Dagur want dragons anyways?"

"To get you first off." Heather replied, looking at him a little sheepishly "But ultimately conquer Berk."

"Of course he'd want to do that." Hiccup said with a groan, shaking his head. "But what's he doing with them?"

"I was just taking care of them." Heather explained "He didn't tell me what he was planning to do with them, or why he was doing what he was doing."

"Of course he didn't" Matt whispered to himself, making sure that no one could hear him. Leaning against the door of Hiccup's room, he felt something bump it. Turning around, he saw Windshear pushing her head through to see where Heather went. Shaking his head, he then said "I'll take Windshear to the stalls. Put her away for now."

"Oh." Heather said, turning around to see Windshear looking for her "I guess that's the new rule." Walking up to Windshear, she then began to pat her on the nose, saying "Go with Matt Windshear. He'll take you to our new room."

"You don't have sleep in the stalls!" Hiccup said, looking at Heather with concern.

"I need to stay with Windshear. I'd like to at least." Heather replied. Looking over at Matt, she then added "If that's allowed I mean."

Matt just frowned, knowing she was testing his patience. Sighing, he then opened up the door wider and slipped past Windshear "That's going to be Hiccup's call. Not mine." Walking up the ramp to the Dragon Hanger, he then said "Wasatch! Where you at? We need to give up our stall."

"Go on girl." Heather said, gently pushing Windshear to follow Matt "I'll be up in a second."

"Sorry Heather, but those rules were the only way to make Matt happy." Hiccup said, watching Matt disappear in the hanger.

"It's alright." Heather replied, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice "I deserve much worse than this."

"No you don't." Hiccup cut in, resting his hand on her shoulder "You're our friend who made a mistake. Whether you believe me or not, we've forgiven you!"

"Thanks Hiccup." Heather whispered, putting on a small smile "That means a lot to me right now."

"Give Matt some time. He'll come around." Hiccup added, reassuring her "He's just being a little cautious."

"I don't blame him. I didn't treat him the greatest." Heather confessed, looking down slightly "I…I was-"

"Heather. What's done is done." Hiccup interrupted, gently shaking her "Come on. Tells us what you learned, and what you're planning."

Smiling a little wider, Heather turned to look up at the maps. "Can I get a pencil or something?" she asked, pulling out a folded, hidden map from her pouch.

Surprised to see the map, Hiccup just nodded and handed her a pencil that lay on his desk.

Heather grabbed it as she laid down the map on the desk. The rest of the gang circled around her and Hiccup as she began to explain the map. "This is a rough sketch of a map that I made. It's not entirely accurate, but should give us an idea of where the Dagur's been, and where he goes."

The map was indeed a rough sketch. Islands were just circles, not scaled or detailed. Some of the islands had x's in them. Hiccup just stared at the map, trying to contain himself in correcting what he saw.

"Each island with an x in it is what Dagur discovered from the Dragon Eye." Heather began to say, pointing to the maps that were hanging on the wall. "These were islands that he wanted to hit next."

"Ok, to get more dragons." Hiccup said, understanding the reason.

"Exactly." Heather replied "But the islands that don't have an x, are ones that he already hit. All the dragons we captured, we took to this island." Pointing to an island in the corner of map, she then explained "This was where I stayed when we weren't finding dragons. I took care of them."

"So where did Dagur go?" Astrid cut in, looking at the map.

"Let me get to that." Heather said with some excitement in her voice "Every single dragon island we raided, we took them my island right?"

"That's what you've been telling us." Hiccup said, looking at Heather with a serious look.

"Except this island." Heather said, pointing to an island on the opposite side of the map. "That island, Dagur took those dragons and when we split up, he went north." Pointing to the top right corner of the map, exact opposite of where Heather stayed, she added "Now look at the islands with the x's in them."

Astrid was the first to see what Heather was talking about. "They're all near where Dagur went to."

"Exactly!" Heather said with a smile "And I went back to see where Dagur left to go after every island we raided. They all show him heading towards that direction!"

"So that would be our bet in finding Dagur." Hiccup said, nodding at the new information. Looking up at Heather, he then asked "What kind of dragons did Dagur take with him? If we know that, we might be able to piece together what he's planning."

Heather looked down, obviously embarrassed. Hesitating for a few seconds, she then said "I don't know. They weren't any that I've seen before." Looking up at Hiccup apologetically, she then explained "I don't know dragon exactly like you guys. I've only trained Windshear."

"Maybe the Dragon Eye can help us out." Fishlegs suggested, stepping closer to Hiccup and Heather "Do you think you could tell us what kind of dragon they were? Like Boulder, Strike, or Mystery Class?"

"It was a water dragon." Heather answered "The island was a series of smaller islands. It had multiple pools where the dragons like to stay in. They were really skittish though. More than any other dragon I've seen. We were only able to capture a few because the rest flew or swam away faster than we could chase."

"Hiccup, look under Tidal Class." Fishlegs said, getting excited with the chance that they would be learning about a new dragon.

"Hold on Fishlegs, I got to go get Toothless." Hiccup replied, laughing at Fishlegs' excitement "I'll be right back!" Running out of the door, Hiccup quickly called out "Toothless! Come here bud!"

"He's playing with Wasatch." Matt's voice called above him.

Hiccup quickly looked up to see Matt sitting on the edge of the deck on the hanger. Now wearing his snowboard coat and goggles, he now looked like the snowboarder everyone knew. Swinging his feet lazily, Matt put on a small smile as Hiccup stared at him "Forgot I was still out here?"

"Why didn't you come in? We've learned a lot!" Hiccup said loudly, walking up the ramp to talk to Matt.

"I figured you'd fill me in." Matt answered, scooting over to let Hiccup sit next to him.

"Want to come see us work with the Dragon Eye? See how it works?" Hiccup asked, taking a seat next to Matt "Come on, you're part of the team now!"

"I think you know the real reason why I chose to stay out here." Matt said, looking up at the blue sky.

Hiccup didn't say anything for a second. Looking at Matt with concern, he then asked "Why are you having such a hard time with Heather? It's more than just trusting her isn't it?"

"It's what she did Hiccup." Matt whispered, pulling his goggles off his eyes. "I know your world's different from mine Hiccup, but where I'm from, you don't give people second chances. A second chance is just asking to be burned again."

"How do you get stuff done then?" Hiccup asked "Everyone makes mistakes."

"That's my culture. Don't make mistakes." Matt answered "If you fail, you have a harder time getting back up. If you can get back up." Looking at Hiccup in the eye, he then added "It's not that I don't believe her Hiccup, I actually do! I believed her when she was telling me everything when I escaped from her. I just don't trust her. You're giving her the power to stab us in the back. And if she's doing what I think she's doing, telling you where Dagur is, that just puts her in a position to deliver us to Dagur's traps."

"Matt, she made a few mistakes. I can't argue that." Hiccup replied, shaking his head "But you of all people have the best, untainted relationship with her. She did capture you, and forced you to, ah-hem, Find the Mighty Wasatch!" He made his voice deepen, to add to the memory of how they lied to her, causing Matt to chuckle at the jest. Then returning to a serious tone, explained "She never betrayed you. She never lied to you. You of all people here, should be the one trusting her the most!"

"The thing is Hiccup." Matt began to say "Is that I have to play it safe. Have you ever asked 'what if?' What if she does betray you? Will you be a position to comeback from the betrayal? Or are you going to be in a situation like how I found you and Astrid?"

Hiccup didn't say anything. He knew Matt was right about his reasoning, he just wish it didn't have to be him.

"Listen Hiccup, you and the gang were the ones who put me in this position." Matt began to say, only see a questionable look on Hiccup's face. "Ok, I chose to be in this position. But you do understand that you guys aren't making it easier for me. I don't want to be blindsided by her like you guys were. Multiple times."

"I understand." Hiccup said, nodding in agreement "I do Matt. But how about you come down with me to at least try to learn to trust her. I mean, you told her yourself that you'd try."

"I know." Matt sighed, looking up at the ocean "Fine, I'll come with you."

"Great!" Hiccup said with a relief "Come on, we need to grab Wasatch and Toothless first."

"Why? Why were you looking for Toothless in the first place?" Matt asked, standing up with Hiccup.

"To light the Dragon Eye. A dragon flame does it best." Hiccup explained, walking down the ramp.

"How about we try my flashlight?" Matt asked, walking over to where his backpack lay with his snowboard. Opening a pouch, he then pulled out his small LED flashlight. "Wanna see if it works?"

"I guess. Since our dragons are obviously too busy to help us." Hiccup answered sarcastically, looking off the edge of the platform to see Toothless and Wasatch rolling in the snow.

Laughing, Matt gently pushed Hiccup towards his room, following him closely "Come on Hiccup, let's see how this Dragon Eye works."

Smiling, Hiccup pushed open the door to see everyone sitting and talking with each other. Heather was covering her ears as Snotlout continued to talk about his adventures of testing Gobber's weapons before Dragon's Edge was founded. Seeing Hiccup and Matt walk in, she quickly looked away from Matt.

"Say something to her." Hiccup whispered, nudging Matt with his elbow.

"Serious?" Matt whispered back "It's just as awkward for me as it is her!"

"Matt. You said you were going to try!" Hiccup shot back, looking away from him. "Got the Dragon Eye? Matt's going to try something to see if we don't need a dragon to light it."

"How?" Astrid asked, looking at Matt with curiosity "Don't tell me you learned how to breathe fire."

"I wish. I have a hand held light." Matt said with a smile "Brighter than a torch or candle." Looking at Heather, who was still looking at the ground, he sighed and reluctantly asked "Wanna give it a try Heather?"

Heather's head shot up, looking at Matt with confusion. "Wait, me?"

"It's Heather isn't it?" Matt followed up with. Holding his flashlight out, he gestured for her to take it. "Don't worry, it's just like my goggles. It doesn't bite."

"No, it's not that; it's just, you're asking me?" Heather stuttered out, slowly and awkwardly reaching for the flashlight.

"I am." Matt replied simply. Seeing her grab the light, he then said "Push the button on the back. It'll turn the light on."

Nodding in understanding, she looked at the black button and pushed it. A white light shot out, blinding Matt in the eyes.

"Gah!" he shouted, covering his eyes and stumbling backwards. Over stepping with his bad leg, it then shot a sharp pain up his leg causing him to fall onto the floor.

"What did I do!?" Heather shouted, frantically looking back and forth between Matt and the bright light.

"You're good!" Matt grunted, rolling to his side "Forgot to tell you not to shine that in people's eyes."

"I'm so sorry!" Heather said, thinking she blew it with Matt already.

"Oh please. My friends back home shine lasers at me all the time. This isn't anything." Matt laughed, letting Snotlout and Astrid help him up. Standing up, making sure his leg was doing alright, he then looked up at Hiccup and asked "Where's your Dragon Eye?"

Glad that Matt wasn't mad, Hiccup then grabbed the Dragon Eye sitting on the table "Here! Try shining that light through the hole in the bottom."

Heather reached and grabbed the Dragon Eye. Looking at it with curiosity, she then shown the light through. Suddenly, the room changed from white to a green color. The Dragon Eye shown its information on a Whispering Death on the wall. "It works!" She cried out, smiling at Hiccup and the others. "Whatever this thing is, it's lighting up the Dragon Eye!"

"Perfect! Let's see if we can't find our mystery Tidal Class dragon." Hiccup said, taking a seat near Heather.

"Why are we looking for a Tidal Class dragon?" Matt asked, letting himself lean against the back wall with Astrid.

"Forgot you were outside when we talked about this." Hiccup said with a smile "Here's the short story. Dagur is capturing dragons and taking them to an island where Heather was. All except for a specific Tidal Class dragon."

"We think we figured out where his home base is." Heather quickly said, turning to face Matt "But if we learn why he wanted that specific dragon, then we might be able to figure out what he's planning."

"He still never told you? Even after he said that he trusted you?" Matt asked, raising an eyebrow in concern.

See that Matt was still a little stand-offish, Heather slowly let her smile disappear. "No he didn't. I guess I told you too much and was put back down the ladder of leadership." Shaking her head, she then added "Took me a bit of digging, but I know he's making something. That thing called The Black Curtain."

Matt just nodded, to show her that he believed her; though in his heart he was still holding onto his doubts.

"Ok, let's see what we have here." Hiccup began to say "Heather, tell me if you see anything familiar."

"Sounds good." Heather replied, turning to watch the image change as Hiccup started to press buttons.

Matt just stared at the two, trying to make sense of what was going on. Especially with Heather.

"You still don't believe her? Do you" Astrid whispered, sliding closer to Matt.

"I believe her. It's trusting her that's hard." Matt replied quietly, slightly looking down "Is it still obvious?"

"A little bit. Yeah." She answered calmly "It was hard for me too, but I also know her better than you. I can tell when she's being sincere and real."

"Yeah, about that…" Matt began to say "Did you really forgive and forget just like that?"

"I didn't forget." Astrid replied quietly "I won't forget. But the thing that helped me forgive her, was that she's going to live with that regret the rest of her life. She already feels guilty enough. My anger and resentment wouldn't help her at all."

Matt thought about what she said for a moment. Turning to watch Heather point at something at a new image that was projected, he then quietly asked "But what if she does backstab us? What if she is still working for Dagur?"

Astrid didn't say anything for a second. Turning to watch Hiccup and Heather continue to mess with the Dragon Eye, she then answered "I guess I don't know if she will. I can't know that for sure." Looking over Matt, who was having a concerned expression growing on his face, she then quickly added "But to be honest, I didn't know that I could trust you when I first met you."

Surprised, Matt then asked "Can I ask why?"

"You were new. You pretty much came out of nowhere, and you had a bunch of images of dragons on you." Astrid began to explain with a smile growing on her face "I honestly thought you were part of the Outcasts. I didn't even want Hiccup to tell you about The Dragon Book. I tried to give him a death glare when he started to talk to you about it."

"So you thought I was making up the fact that I was from a completely different time period and was related to Hiccup?" Matt asked, a smile growing on his face.

"Would you have believed it if it was the other way around?" Astrid asked, her smile broadening.

"Probably not." Matt said with a wide smile of his own. Shaking his head, he then said "I guess I'm glad that you do trust me now."

"Because I know you." Astrid explained "I know that you will do anything to help me. Or any of us." Looking at Heather, who was trying to read something on a new image, she then added "I know Heather. On a personal level. We got…close to each other a few months ago. While she is reckless, and impulsive with her choices, I know what she treasures the most."

"What's that?" Matt asked, also turning to look at Heather and Hiccup.

"Those that care about her." Astrid answered, not bothering to look at Matt's reaction.

"But…didn't she leave that to join her brother?" Matt quizzed, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course." Astrid replied simply "But think about this. I don't even want you to answer it. Who was she more concerned with when she was taking you to find Wasatch? Dagur? Or us?"

Matt went back in time as he thought about it. It was true. She would only talk about Hiccup and Astrid when he was asking her questions. On top of that, she begged to help him get them back when he overpowered her; not for her own life.

Seeing his eyebrows furrow, Astrid them lightly threw her arm around his shoulder and leaned against him "You see Matt. In a way, she's just like you. Thinking of others and not herself."

Matt quickly glanced up at Astrid, shocked at what she said.

"Give her a chance. Try to get to know her." Astrid whispered, smiling at him "Who knows? You two might be best of friends!"

"Don't hold your breath." Matt huffed, glancing away from Astrid. Then, letting out a deep breath, returned to look at her. "Thanks Astrid. And I will. I'll try to…get to know her."

"I'm just repaying the favor." Astrid said with a laugh. Then with a more serious look, explained "I've been thinking a lot about what you've said. With what really makes me happy…"

"Oh?" Matt replied, his interest perked at this.

"No details yet," she warned, looking at him as if not to push it "But it has helped me really prioritize my expectations."

Smiling, Matt then said "No problem Astrid. Glad I could help." Then with a laugh, said "But we're not even yet! You still owe me for saving your butt!"

Groaning, she just shook her head and smiled "Give me time Matt, I'm sure I'll be repaying the favor somehow."

"No rush!" Matt chirped back, lightly elbowing her in the side "I'm liking having something to gloat over you!"

"Would you like your other leg slashed?" Astrid warned, eyeing him dangerously.

"Nope! I'll drop the subject!" Matt quickly said, smiling at the threat. Looking back at Hiccup, he then teased him by saying "Oi! Hiccup! What's taking you guys so long? Can't you see we're still waiting?"

"Oh, I can see that." Hiccup replied, turning to Matt with a smile "While Heather and I work; why don't you and Astrid go clean the stalls? Since Gustav left earlier this day!"

Astrid then elbowed Matt in the side, obviously angry with what happened.

"I got a better idea." Matt said with a smile, walking up to Hiccup "Why don't you and Astrid go for a relaxing flight. I'll help Heather hear identify our mystery dragon.

Shocked, both Hiccup and Heather looked at Matt in complete confusion.

"Don't worry, I won't break the Dragon Eye." Matt assured, grabbing and pulling Hiccup onto his feet.

"Aren't you nervous to be with me alone? Again?" Heather asked, still staring at Matt.

"Are you armed?" Matt asked, looking down at her.

"No." She replied quietly.

"Then we're good." Matt said with a smile. Turning to Hiccup he then whispered "Listen, I'm trying to get to know her. It's a good thing ok?"

Realizing what Matt was doing, Hiccup then nodded in acknowledgement. Turning to Heather, he then said "You know how to change the images, just keep looking. Astrid and I will be back after we go for a ride."

"Oh, ok." Heather answered, looking over at Matt nervously as he took Hiccup's seat.

"Send one of the other guys if you find anything." Hiccup added, pushing Fishlegs and Snotlout out of the room, while Astrid dragged the twins away.

"What? Why does Matt get to stay with her alone?" Snotlout whined, being pushed out.

Seeing the door shut, Matt turned to see Heather looking away from him. Sighing, he then said "Listen. I stand by what I said earlier. I don't want you to hurt anyone."

Heather just nodded, getting tired of hearing the same thing.

"But I didn't tell you this." Matt added, watching her head perk up a little. "I want to trust you. I really do. I just need a good reason to do so. Can you do that for me?"

Looking up at Matt, Heather just stared at him. Seeing that he was being sincere, she then slowly nodded in agreement. "If that's the case, we better get to work and find that dragon."