So…I noticed today that the only documents I still have uploaded on this site—in the Document Manager, I mean-(that haven't been deleted automatically) are chapters for Wheel and Brave. Wow...I knew I was only really updating those two, but now there's proof!

I actually started writing this chapter before the posting deadline I set! It's a miracle! I even posted it a day ahead of schedule! What is this madness?!

Review Replies:

kitty.0: The dreams are fun to write and plan out. There'll be at least one more of them in this arc.

aaquater: Astrid is definitely feeling the pressure. It's not getting much better for her any time soon, though. Yep…that's the idea! Complicated dreams are my specialty. … Probably not, but I am pretty good at writing them.

Guest (anonymous): I'm glad because I really wasn't sure that dream would live up to expectations. It was kind of a mix a bunch of random stuff.

Next chapter starts…now!

Chapter 21: Running Out of Ideas
Wheel in the Sky

The sun was actually shining today. Days of sunshine were always miracles during the season of harsh snows. Hiccup lay on the beach and stared up at the clear blue sky above him. Though the air was still cool, the day was bearable and he would definitely try to take advantage of it…before the cold night air set in once again. Hiccup couldn't help but to notice the striking resemblance between the sun this afternoon and Astrid's hair; both were perfectly golden, a shade of yellow that made him happy and reminded him of better days. She's probably heartbroken, he thought with a sigh. I wonder if she thinks about me, if she wonders when I'll return home to Berk…and to her.

There was no denying that the island was a nice place. Hiccup could see himself building a suitable shelter (with help from Toothless) if he made it through this season of harsh snows; that was a serious "if". It would suffice until Hiccup could find a way back to Berk, but, no matter what, he would never stop searching for a way back to his home island. The young Viking knew that he would never be "home" without his heart and he had left his heart back on Berk with Astrid. Life on Berk may not always be the most pleasant, especially during the season of harsh snows, but, without Astrid, he'd never truly feel content and Astrid was back on Berk.

Days had continued to pass and, still, Hiccup was no closer to finding a way home. He had no extra metal to fashion a new tailfin system for Toothless and, even if he would've had the materials, he had no way to bend it into shape; all his hammers and blacksmithing tools were back at Gobber's forge. When planning his quest, Hiccup had figured that if he'd needed to make improvements or repairs before returning to Berk, he could've asked to use the other village's forge; surely they'd have one on their island.

For days, Hiccup had lay on the beach with Toothless and tried to brainstorm ideas for ways to ensure a quicker return to the skies. He'd bounce the ideas off Toothless, but the dragon seemed to know just as well as his Rider that none of the half-thought ideas would truly work if put to the test.

No matter how hard he tried, Hiccup just could not think of any other options. Sure there was probably one out there that would work well enough, but it just wasn't coming to him. He was too famished and too cold to approach this problem too logically. More and more, an old idea would keep coming back to him. He had once thought about creating a temporary tailfin system from the branches, twigs, leaves, and vines found abundantly on the island. Unfortunately, he also knew that the abundance was long gone; it had disappeared with the changing of the seasons. The leaves had dried up and fallen to the ground only to be swept away by the wind. Any branches and twigs Hiccup could find lying on the ground were always feeble, weak and dead. That would definitely not do. A temporary tailfin system like that would already be very much unstable; he would need the strongest branches he could find. Not that it mattered because the idea would never work without leaves anyway.

"There has to be something I can do, but…what?" he asked, absentmindedly, to Toothless. As if in response, the dragon simply lifted his head from his paws, cooed softly, and lowered his head down once again. "Have I really thought of all possible options? I don't want to believe that, but…"

Sure Hiccup had an idea to build a suitable shelter if his stay upon this island lasted through the season of harsh snows, but he also knew that was highly unlikely to ever happen. To build such a shelter, he would again need strong wood that would withstand the harsh winds. Such wood would not be found until after this season of harsh snows and Hiccup knew that, without such a shelter, there was no way that he would live through the season…even with the help from Toothless; there was only so much the dragon would be able to offer.

Hiccup's troubled mind raced with possible thoughts and ideas, but none seemed logical enough to fully think out and plan. He thought about taking another walk around the island but ultimately decided against it in favor of just staying where he already was, at this location on the beach where he had awaken from unconsciousness, where he had realized just how desperate his situation had become.

I guess it was too much to hope there would be wild dragons here. Sure that could've been a disaster for me and Toothless, but he was a wild dragon too at one time. If I could train him, maybe I could've trained others, larger dragons that could carry both me and Toothless back to Berk. That idea would never work either; Hiccup hadn't seen any dragons other than the ones with riders that he'd noticed before that storm. They'd never returned either.

"You know, Bud," Hiccup spoke to the dragon lying beside him. "Now is one of those times when it would be really great if the Gods didn't hate me. I'm out of ideas. All that's left is…to stay here and hope we can survive through this season."

Looking up into the cloudless blue sky, Hiccup sighed and placed his left hand on Toothless. Stroking the dragon's jet-black scales, Hiccup sighed again in defeat. "We're never going back to Berk, Bud," he whispered sadly in final realization.

I know…this chapter is short. It's about fifty words shorter than I usually prefer for my minimum limit…but there wasn't much that needed to be established in this one.

This arc, in general, just feels like it's moving so slowly for me…but the next one will pick up a bit! After that…well, I haven't planned out much further than that so far.

Coming Up Next: Berk is moving on. Anyone living there can see it. Preparations are being made as Chief Stoick debates over who will be the next heir, taking the place of his fallen son. It is expected that Astrid should move on. "It's been four months. Astrid, it's time to move on." Astrid was still uncertain, though. "How can I move on? Hiccup will always be on my mind."

Next Chapter: I'm trying to get back into updating more frequently, but without knowing my work schedule for next week yet, I'm just going to guess that I'll aim for posting chapter 22 on Wednesday night after 10 PM US East Coast time.

Thank you all for reading and supporting Wheel in the Sky!

Posted: June 6, 2014