Okay, critical week here! I start college on August 10 so I've been working overtime to finish Riders and Defenders as well as juggling preparing for college. Thanks for all who have been patient for this new update for Frozen Fire. I promise that, even when I'm already taking classes, I'll find time to continue this story.

NOTE: I DO NOT OWN HTTYD

Chapter 13: To the Isle of Zen

The next morning, the team had gathered around Hiccup's map to come up with a plan on how to bring Zenna and Stryka back. To do that, they first had to pinpoint the runaway duo's location.

"Alright, guys, think. If you were Zen and needed time alone, where would you go?" Hiccup asked his friends. "The Cove?" the Twins asked. "She and Stryka already left Berk," Eret pointed out. "Dragon Island?" Fishlegs suggested. "Maybe…but I think we passed by it yesterday and it wasn't doing as well as Berk. Zen's magic had also affected the area," Astrid said. "The Dragon Sanctuary, then?" Snotlout piped up. "Maybe…Gods, if Zenna went to Greece…" Hiccup mumbled, already running out of ideas, before Heather pointed at an island on the map. "What about this one? The Isle of Zen?" the green-eyed girl asked.

Everyone perked up at Heather's suggestion.

"Of course! Her own island! Heather, you are a genius!" Hiccup exclaimed, running out to the stables. "I am?" Heather repeated, a little surprised. "You are," Snotlout smiled up at her, making Heather blush. "You think so?" Heather asked, blushing as well. Nodding, Snotlout took Heather's hand in his and they followed Hiccup to the stables, hand-in-hand. Eret had a completely shocked look on his face when he turned from watching the two leave to face Astrid, Fishlegs and the Twins. "Did I miss something last night?" he asked them. "Oh, you missed a lot, Eret," Astrid smiled. Fishlegs was already chanting, "Yes, Ruff's mine! Ruff's mine!" under his breath while doing a little jig and the Twins merely began placing bets on Snotlout and Heather. "Bet you three pieces of silver they'll start dating next week!" Tuffnut whispered. "I'll bet double on that they'll kiss after 24 hours!" Ruffnut snickered as she and her brother did a spit-handshake and banged helmets.

"Come on, guys. We're burning daylight," Eret rolled his eyes at his friends and they went to the stables to get their dragons. Once they were all saddled up, Hiccup and Toothless decided to take point.

"Next stop, the Isle of Zen!"

Meanwhile, back on Berk…

"Fanghook, no! You can't go out flying today! There's a thunderstorm and snowstorm brewing!" Gustav Larson told his Monstrous Nightmare sternly. Then the young lad spied a pile of wood nearby. Bucket and Mulch were currently arguing on which side of the wood was drier and provided more fire. "No, bark side up!" Mulch said, placing a piece of wood on the pile with the bark showing. "But down is drier, Mulch!" Bucket protested, flipping the wood over. Hearing his sister's complaints about the cold, Gustav snuck over to the wood pile and grabbed a few pieces. "Mom, I got wood!" the teen cried out, racing home, before being stopped by Edgar and Henna.

"Gustav, you need not steal. I want you to put that wood back where you found it this instant," Edgar told the boy sternly. "Yes, Mr. Fiersome…" Gustav sighed, dragging the wood back to Bucket and Mulch's pile.

El sneezed and shivered, Henna bundling him up in his winter coat. "Mama, I mwiss Zennwa…" the one-year-old boy cooed, looking sad. "I know, sweetheart…Papa and I miss her too…" Henna sighed before Thora came forward with a cloak. "Best to stay warm, Mrs. Fiersome…" the young woman said, handing her the cloak. "You're very kind, Thora…Thank you…" Henna said before a bolt of lightning struck the Great Hall!

"Fire brigade!" Valka shouted, already on Cloudjumper and putting out the fire, some Vikings and their dragons rushing to help her put out the fire. Alvin was also giving orders to his men, sending some out into the forest to help the Berkians in keeping the forest fires at bay and ordering the rest to clear away the vines, helping as well. Trader Johann, himself, was not idle and helped Gobber in distributing cloaks and bowls of warm soup to the weary, freezing people of Berk.

The only one who wasn't doing anything to help was Mildew who, in order to be kept from cursing Zenna and her family, had been gagged by Savage who was tasked to keep an eye on him.

"That Zenna is a witch! A wicked sorceress…!" Mildew shouted once he managed to get the gag out of his mouth before Savage knocked him out again. 'Odin, I really do hope Hiccup and the others can get Zenna to come back and bring a stop to all this madness…' Savage thought, looking up at the skies and hoping that Hiccup and the Riders were doing well on their end of the mission.

The Riders were mostly silent throughout the whole flight. All of them were thinking about different things but they all had one simultaneous thought, something they all knew they were all thinking about.

When they found Zenna…what then? How would they convince her to come back? Would she even want to?

Then seeing that Heather was flying alongside him and Astrid, and Eret was out of earshot, Hiccup flew Toothless closer to Windshear. "Hey, Heather, I don't know if this is a good time but…what was it like growing up in the South with Eret and Zenna?" he asked the green-eyed girl. Heather smiled and glanced at Eret. "It was pretty fun, actually. I didn't hang out with them all the time but, whenever I did, we had a really good time. A lot of the girls back in the South…they really liked Eret a lot. Even I had a bit of a crush on him," Heather replied.

"You had a crush on Eret? When did that stop?" Astrid asked, mildly surprised. Heather smiled and, speaking in hushed tones, began to tell her and Hiccup the story…

(Flashback Starts)

"Thanks for walking me home, Eret," Seven-year-old Heather smiled up at twelve-year-old Eret as they walked through the village. "Anytime, Heather," Eret smiled back at her. Heather giggled and shyly covered her blushing face with her hands. She, like all the other young girls, had a crush on Eret. There was just something about his accent, chivalry and strength that just drove all the girls in the ten to twelve-year-old age group wild. There was no mistaking the fact that Eret, Son of Eret, was really, really, REALLY cute.

Then, as they rounded a corner, Heather and Eret bumped into Zenna. The seven-year-old Fiersome girl briefly looked up before dropping her gaze to the ground. But, in the split second, Eret and Heather were able to see the bruises on Zenna's face as well as her black eye! "Oh, my gods! Zen, what happened to you?!" Heather exclaimed in alarm. "I don't wanna talk about it…" Zenna muttered before limping away. Eret quickly went after her, gently making Zenna turn around so she could face him. "Leave me alone, Eret…I don't feel like talking…It hurts to even talk…" Zenna said quietly, slightly wincing as her whole body throbbed. Eret looked at her for a second before looking at Heather.

"Heather, can you go to Lady Ingrid's house and tell her we have a patient for her?" the 12-year-old boy requested urgently. Heather nodded and began to run in the direction of the healer's hut. Then she briefly turned around and saw Eret gently pick Zenna up. Heather slightly smiled upon seeing Zenna squirm to try to get Eret to put her down but Eret firmly shook his head.

"I don't need help. I can get to the healer myself," Zenna said stubbornly and, finally, Eret let her get back on the ground. But, when she took one step, Zenna stumbled and fell to her knees. "Owww…" the seven-year-old girl whimpered. Eret sighed and helped her up. "Come on, Zen. I'll carry you to Ingrid's," he told her softly. Zenna sighed in frustration but let Eret carry her to the healer, where Heather had already gone ahead.

Lady Ingrid, the South's best healer, tended to Zenna's wounds while Eret and Heather watched. "Dear child, what on earth caused this?" Lady Ingrid asked Zenna gently as she dabbed salve on Zenna's cuts and scrapes. Zenna refused to answer and just looked down at her hands in her lap. Eret went over to her and sat next to Zenna. "Zen, come on…tell us what happened," the twelve-year-old boy asked softly. Heather could see the way Eret knit his eyebrows together and the way his eyes softened and knew that Eret was really worried about Zenna. After a few minutes of just staring at her hands, Zenna looked up.

"I got into a fight. I fought back…I didn't win and I got beat up…" Zenna said quietly. Eret sucked in his breath and Heather could see him clench his fists in barely contained rage. Lady Ingrid was calmer and gently patted Zenna's head. "Learn when to use violence and when not to use violence, Zenna. And avoid getting into fights, alright?" she advised the little girl gently. "Yes, Ms. Ingrid…" Zenna mumbled. "Eret, Heather, keep her comfortable. I need to go get more herbs from the botanist," Ingrid told the other two children. "Yes, Ms. Ingrid," Eret and Heather both said.

Once Ingrid left, Heather went over to Zenna. "Who beat you up, Zen? We'll tell Elias and he can beat them to a pulp," she said seriously. "I don't wanna talk about it, Heather…" Zenna shook her head before wincing as her black eye throbbed. Eret quickly got an ice pack and gently placed it against her black eye. "Take it easy, Zenna…" he said softly. Zenna nodded before sighing, "It was Brenda. She and her friends ganged up on me…"

Heather gulped, knowing that Brenda was one of the older girls in class and she had a gang of mean girls that followed her every whim. Brenda was often picking on her and Zenna, pulling on her braid and always keeping Zenna's notes out of her reach because she was a lot shorter compared to all the other girls. Heather always made sure to stay away from Brenda and her gang. Zenna, on the other hand, had no fear and would always stand up for her and the other girls being bullied by Brenda. But this was the first time Zenna had ever tried to pick a fight and look where it got her.

"Why did Brenda and her friends gang up on you?" Eret asked, wanting to find out what was going on. Zenna blushed and refused to meet his gaze. Sighing, Eret gently tilted her head up so she could look at him. "Come on, Zen…Please tell me…" Eret pleaded, his amber brown eyes soft and gentle. Finally Zenna confessed. "Brenda was jealous of me spending a lot of time with you. And she wants to be your date at the upcoming festival next week. She said that an immature baby like me shouldn't hang out with you…" she admitted quietly. Heather scowled. "That's stupid. And if anyone's an immature baby, it's Brenda!" she said angrily. Eret calmed her down and asked, "Heather, can you go see if Lady Ingrid's back?"

Heather nodded and left the room. But she stayed nearby and peered through the door and saw Eret gently brush Zenna's bangs out of her eyes. "Zenna, compared to all the people in this village, you're one of the most mature people I've ever met. Why would you think I wouldn't want to hang out with you?" he asked softly. Zenna shrugged. "Well…you're older and bigger than me. You should be hanging out with kids your age instead of little girls like me…" she said timidly. Eret laughed and gently petted Zenna's head. "If you saw me with kids my age, Zen, you'd think of me as an adult. I'm taller than most of them and I always feel out of place," he told her. Zenna looked at him with wide eyes. "You feel out of place?" she asked incredulously. "All the time. But when I'm around you…I don't…" Eret smiled at her.

Zenna blinked at him in confusion before yawning. "Sleepy…" she mumbled, laying her head on Eret's lap. The twelve-year-old boy smiled and gently brushed Zenna's hair behind her ear. "Just try to rest, Zen…" Eret said softly before looking at Heather. The raven-haired girl smiled. "It's okay, Eret. I can ask Ms. Ingrid to take me the rest of the way home," she said. Eret smiled gratefully at her before returning his attention back to Zenna, gently petting her head. Zenna shifted in her sleep and smiled, curling up in Eret's lap. And Heather knew, in that moment, that she had no chance with Eret…'

(Flashback Ends)

"…after that, I knew I had no chance with Eret anymore. I knew that he only had eyes for Zenna," Heather finished her story, smiling a bit. "Wow…so what happened after that? Did Eret tell that Brenda and her gang off?" Astrid asked curiously. "Oh, he did worse. When Brenda asked him out to be his date for the festival, Eret rejected her saying, and I will quote him directly, he 'doesn't date girls who pick on little girls just because they're jealous'. Brenda really cried that day. And, to be honest, it felt kind of good to see her cry. Then, after that, I started feeling sorry for her," Heather admitted with a slight smile. "So Eret and Zenna were really that close even as kids, huh?" Hiccup remarked. "They were. You never really saw one without the other for that long," Heather smiled.

Then Toothless sniffed the air and barked excitedly, flying faster. Hiccup looked ahead and saw the looming shape of the Isle of Zen up ahead. "The Isle of Zen…" Hiccup mumbled. "So…how exactly are we going to get Zenna to come back with us to Berk?" Fishlegs asked nervously. "We'll talk to her," Eret told him. "That's it? The whole fate of Berk is gonna rest on us talking to Zenna?" Snotlout asked, incredulous. "Do you have a better idea?" Astrid asked him, raising an eyebrow at him. "We can tie her up and take her back to Berk!" Ruffnut piped up. "No!" Hiccup said, shaking his head. "Oh! Oh! Or we can club her and…" Tuffnut managed to say before Eret told him, "Nobody is clubbing Zenna or tying her up, okay?"

Heather then looked at Eret and Hiccup. "Why don't you two be the ones to talk to her? Zenna doesn't trust us in the same way she trusts you two," she advised the two. Looking at each other, Hiccup and Eret nodded. They would be the ones to talk to Zenna…and hopefully convince her to come home.

Tell me what u guys thought about this chapter. Next chapter…is going to surprise you guys so be prepared!

-GuardianDragon98