AN: I know, I know. It's been ages since my last update. I'm very sorry about that, but I won't make you wait any longer, go ahead and read your chapter! Just one thing: from the next chapter on I'll be answering reviews privately, except for guests who I can't pm. As always, reviews of all kind are greatly appreciated. But you know nothing offensive. Now answers to reviews:

Silverlined Phoenix: I do have a schedule for updating, technically it's supposed to be on Fridays. But I'm kinda taking too long for each chapter, hehe... ups. Keep reading and thanks for your review!

11. The lost boy

BERK, THE FOREST

Both teens looked at each other and a small smile appeared in each of their faces. Maybe not everything was so bad after all. Sure, perhaps she would not go home in a while, but she wasn't alone here either. Perhaps he didn't fit with the Vikings, but there was someone that accepted him for who he was. Neither had what they wanted, but they had what they needed.

Hiccup was the first one to stand up. He offered Annabelle a hand, who took it warmly and stood up as well. Smiling once more, they were about to head back to town they heard a scream.

"Aaahhh! Help me!"

Both of the teens jumped, almost bumping into each other. They stood gasping, trying to calm down their racing hearts. What had been that?

Hiccup opened his mouth to ask something, when the voice was heard again crying for help. They stared at the woods in confusion and then shared a look, before Annabelle broke into a run leaving Hiccup behind.

"Hey! Wait!" He called in surprise as he followed the trail of her hair moving through the woods and he quickly managed to catch up with her. She then stopped, and Hiccup bent down holding his stomach trying to keep his lunch down.

"Don't ever... do that... again..." He breathed.

"Sorry," she apologized with a sheepish smile, shrugging slightly. "I just got carried away."

"Yeah, that's alright. But a warning next time would be nice," he suggested straining up.

The cries rang through the air once more, and soon both teens found themselves running towards them with Hiccup at the head since he was the faster of the two, and Annabelle following. Constantly the young man got way ahead of her, but thankfully flexibility was on the girl's side due to years of ice skating and it helped her in catching up.

It didn't take them long as they approached the heart of the forest where the sound seemed to come from, and it got to a point it was so loud they had to stop in order to figure out from which direction it was coming. Hiccup could even swear-

He barely had time to register something crashing against his back as he was knocked off his feet and to the ground.

"Uf!" He cried, the air kicked out of his lungs. He coughed as he slowly lifted himself up in a sitting position to see what had bumped into him, and he raised his eyebrows in surprise when all he found was a little boy lying in the ground. For sure he wasn't expecting to see a nine year old here in the woods, and all alone no less! The first thing that went through Hiccup's head was: where are his parents?

Annabelle walked towards the boy and helped him gently to sit up, trying to check if he was hurt. Hiccup also saw the look she was giving him, realizing she was concerned as well for him. But he assured her everything was alright with a wave of his hand. She gave him a small smile in relief before turning back her attention towards the little boy. It was then when Hiccup finally had a real look at him, the boy had brown hair shorter and messier than his own, he had green eyes almost blue, and his tone of skin was slightly darker than theirs. He was wearing a grey sleeveless shirt, a dark green leather vest and a brown belt, dark pants and furred boots.

Hiccup also noticed he was trembling pretty bad. He tried to touch his shoulder, but the kid saw him and backed away from him. It took Hiccup off guard a little, but he guessed it was a normal reaction, after all Annabelle had reacted the same way the first time they met.

He turned to Annabelle who looked at him and gestured him to wait. He nodded, and she knelt to match the boy's eye level, shifting his attention to her.

"Hello, sweetheart," she said softly. The little boy whined when his back met a tree, and his trembling increased as he realized he couldn't escape. She noticed it. "It's okay little guy. We're not going to hurt you, alright? We're good people." She gestured to herself. "I'm Annabelle," then she moved her hand towards Hiccup. "And this is my friend, Hiccup. What's your name?"

Hiccup figured out by her way of speaking that Annabelle knew how to treat with little kids, which was something very good for the three of them. Although, if he recalled, she had told him that she had a little sister. Maybe that's why she knew how to act around the little boy they encountered, because he had certainly no idea of what to do.

"M-my name's Leif," the little boy said quietly as he sniffed, never taking off his eyes from the ground and constantly cleaning his nose with the back of his hand.

"That's a very nice name," she smiled.

The boy looked up at her with glassy, big eyes. "You think my name's nice?" he asked with a hint of confusion and doubt.

"Of course, little guy." Annabelle nodded as she sat cross legged in front of Leif, whose eyes were glued to her. "It's just as nice as you, a pretty brave little boy."

"I-I'm not very brave," Leif admitted sadly looking back to the floor, fumbling with his shirt. She tilted her head and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Why do you say that?" she asked, allowing him to take his time before answering.

Meanwhile, Hiccup was thinking in silence. He couldn't stop wondering what could a little kid like him possibly be doing all on his own in the woods and crying for help. He imagined thousand of options, and some of them weren't nice at all. Maybe he was running away from something, like a bear, or a wolf, or a dragon itself. Or maybe he just got lost in the woods and had separated from his family. Or maybe he didn't have a family, maybe he was left here to die from starvation. Hiccup seriously considered the last one. He knew that in the Hairy Hooligans now it was forbidden, but in most of the Viking cultures they were cruel enough to leave kids to die in the woods because they were considered too small or too weak. He couldn't believe what kind of people were that evil to do such an awful thing, but for sure he'd never do that in his life.

"I'm s-scared of spiders," Leif said, bringing Hiccup back to their situation.

"What's the problem with that?" Annabelle asked. "I don't see anything wrong with being scared of spiders."

"B-but no one is scared of spiders!" The little boy argued. "It's stupid! I'm the only one scared of them, everyone else is only afraid of dragons."

Simultaneously, the teens turned so their eyes met. Both were thinking the same thing.

"Can I ask you something?" Annabelle said to Leif, trying to change of topic. Leif took a while to consider it before giving a small nod. "What are you doing out in the woods, all on your own?"

"Well, I was playing hopscotch with Spot by the pond near where I live, when he suddenly ran off after a butterfly. My granny says we can't go away too far so I tried to get him back, but he is too fast. I started to call his name, when suddenly a... a d-dragon attacked me! It started to chase me so I ran to escape, but I didn't watch where I was going and lost my way home."

Hiccup sighed in relief inside. Great, so he did have a family. The only thing they needed to do was guide him to his home, and problem solved.

"Um, hey Leif," Hiccup spoke for the first time since they found Leif, and the two looked at the young man. "Would you like if we helped you go home?" he offered, glancing briefly at Annabelle who smiled and nodded her head at him in agreement.

There was another long silence where the only thing that could be heard was the wind moving gently the leaves, before Leif finally answered. He gave a small nod, but the two teens could see crystal clear the fear in his eyes, and none of them complained. They both knew he was scared, after all he was only a little boy and he was trusting a couple of strangers in the middle of the woods. But they were just trying to help him, they would not hurt him.

Annabelle offered to Leif a hand so they both stood up, and he accepted it hesitantly. The trio got off the ground and dusted off their clothes, before walking through the trees, trying to make Leif recognize the path to his home. In the way, the teens tried to cheer up the boy as much as they could. They cracked jokes, they shared happy stories, they tried to play 'I spy with my spy eye' and some other games.

Just as Hiccup was about to suggest another game, Leif screamed, scaring them out of their skins. Both of them turned to where the boy was looking, and their eyes widened in shock. A dragon was standing right in front of them, but they had never seen one of this kind. It had yellow eyes and side-horns protruding from its head, with a nasal horn on top of the snout. Teeth protruded from its lip from its lower jaw, and a row of sharp spines ran down its neck to its tail. Its size was close to an adult Monstruos Nightmare and its scales were reddish-orange, with a cream colored belly.

The teens stood up in front of the boy in a protective way ready to do whatever it had to take so he'd be safe. The dragon bared its teeth towards the trio, while they backed away from it. Looking around, Hiccup spotted a rock nearby and grabbed it, before waiting a moment and throwing it towards the wild Dragon. However what happened next took everyone by surprise.

The Dragon suddenly vanished into thin air and the rock went right through as if there was nothing there a second ago. Hiccup's eyes widened in shock at this, and to make sure he wasn't dreaming he threw another rock towards the same direction, but it hit nothing.

"What happened?" Annabelle asked in confusion, looking at Hiccup for some sort of answer. But he was just as confused as she was.

"I... I have no idea," he admitted as he turned to look back at her, then he looked down at the boy. "Leif, was that the Dragon that attacked you?"

The boy had hid behind Annabelle the moment he saw the Dragon, and hadn't moved from his spot since then. Annabelle had to place a hand on his back so he could move his head to look at Hiccup and nod. This only caused Hiccup to bite his lower lip in thought.

"What are you thinking?" Annabelle asked, noting the pensive look in his eyes.

"I'm thin-" Hiccup stopped at mid-sentence as he stared at a near tree behind her and Leif. He narrowed his eyes at it, for a moment believing he saw the crust and its leaves moving. He wouldn't have found it strange it if wasn't for the fact there was no wind blowing. He didn't took his eyes off it for a good fifteen seconds, until suddenly a blast of green fire was thrown at them out of nowhere.

"Get down!" he cried as he tackled Annabelle and Leif so they wouldn't get burned. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine," she replied, having softened Leif's landing as she shielded him with her body. As the three stood up, they turned their heads towards the spot they were standing on a few seconds ago and noticed a green, thick hot liquid burning the ground off.

The trio approached it, and it was then when Hiccup realized what kind of Dragon they were facing. Able to disappear in a blink? Dragons couldn't do that, unless their scales were designed to change color and camouflage. Smaller living things as prey? Well, many wild Dragons fed on smaller ones or any other creature that was smaller in size. But it shot acid instead of fire? That was the key; many Dragons had different kind of fire power, and there was only one that could shoot acid.

"It's a Changewing!" Hiccup exclaimed in realization, ducking at the last second from another incoming attack. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't tell where was the Dragon because it seemed as if their surroundings were constantly moving, even though he knew it was the Changewing who moved. At this rate they were completely defenseless and the Dragon could attack them from anywhere. There had to be a way to know when it was going to attack, or at least to know where it was.

He suddenly perked up when another thought went through his head and he turned towards Annabelle. "Anna, have you heard any voice other than Leif's or mine?"

This only caused the little boy to send a questioning look towards the young woman, who raised a confused eyebrow at Hiccup. "Um... yeah, I have. I think I told you before?"

Hiccup shook his head. "No, I mean in the last ten minutes. The new voice could belong to the Changewing," he pointed out. "Maybe you would be able to tell us where is it even though we can't see it, and we could avoid it's attacks."

Annabelle's eyes widened in comprehension before she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. Her eyebrows furrowed as she moved her head, when suddenly she snapped open her eyes and gasped.

"What is it?" Hiccup asked.

"I heard it!" she exclaimed, whipping her head in all directions. "It's gone, but I heard it too close to me. For a moment I could swore he was right behind me!"

Hiccup took note they were talking about a male Changewing. "Do you still hear him?"

"Barely, he's quiet most of the time," she admitted. She perked up. "Wait... I think he's getting near..."

The trio hid behind some trees, staying alert. Hiccup's attention was on Annabelle right now, waiting for the girl to say something and readying himself for the moment he'd have to run. She looked at him and pressed a finger against her lips, before pointing to Hiccup. He realized the Changewing was coming for him. He nodded at her, and she raised three fingers.

On count of three.

She raised one finger.

One...

The leaves moved. Hiccup whipped his head to every which way, but he couldn't tell where was the Dragon. Leif was getting scared, and he gripped Annabelle's hand tightly as he gave a small quiet whine. She raised a second finger.

Two...

He closed his eyes, breathing in and out trying to calm down his racing heart. He opened his eyes and felt ready for this. He was ready for anything that could happen. Annabelle snapped her fingers.

"THREE!"

As soon as they got out from their hiding place the Changewing went straight after them. The trio split up into two groups, Hiccup on his own while Annabelle and Leif went together. This confused the Dragon for a moment, before deciding to chase after the two. Leif screamed when he noticed and Annabelle prayed on her head the plan worked.

Come on, come on, come on, come on, Hiccup! She chanted in her head.

They kept running through the woods, until they reached a dead end.

"We're trapped!" Leif exclaimed.

"Don't worry, I'll figure something out," Annabelle told him.

But she didn't manage to do anything when they heard a roar behind them. The Changewing was just a few feet away, slowly approaching them. Annabelle stood protectively in front of the little boy, who held her hand tightly and hid behind her to get as far away as possible from the beast. This was it. There was no way to escape out of this.

An orange blur appeared out of nowhere and collided with the Dragon, knocking it off his feet as they rolled a few times. When they got up, the two humans noticed the original 'blur' happened to be actually another Dragon, a new species they had never seen before in fact.

"What are you doing? Stay out of this, Timberjack!" The Changewing snapped.

"You will respect what was accorded, Changewing! You shall not defy our authority!" The Timberjack shot back.

"The according was made three centuries ago, I've been working hard to get that little piece of meat. Her majesty will be pleased with this catch."

"No. You will return empty handed. Go now, or face the consequences!"

Time passed painfully slow, and the tension grew with each second that passed. The two Dragons held their stares, until the Changewing backed down.

"This won't be the end," he threatened. "I'll see that I get my claws on them, and when I do, you will beg our Queen for mercy."

"We'll see about that."

And with a final growl, he vanished into thin air. The Timberjack closed it's jaw and turned its head towards the humans. It stared at them down for a few moments, before flying away and disappearing through the trees. Only then, Annabelle and Leif sighed in relief.

"That was a close one," she said as they both breathed in huge amounts of air.

"Anna! Are you guys alright?" Hiccup called as he ran towards them. He sighed in relief as well when he saw they were fine and hugged Anna tightly. She returned it, and only then she realized how badly she was shaking, she hadn't noticed.

"We're alright," she managed to get out after a few tries. They broke the embrace and turned towards the little boy. "Leif?"

Leif peeked over Annabelle's leg, and hesitantly came out. He turned around, but there was no sight of any of the Dragons. He looked up and met two pairs of eyes.

"Is it... is it gone?"

She nodded and placed a hand on his back. "Yes, little guy."

"Oh. Still... can you get me home?"

The teens shared a look.

"Sure," Hiccup smiled. The little boy's lips curved ever the slightest, and the three continued on their way.

I hope the ending's not too rushed. Don't forget to follow, fav and review!