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ONWARDS:


"Well, that was an utter waste of time."

Snotlout sounded tired are bored, and it was rightfully so too.

The search of the forest went as one reading this story might expect: a complete failure. All the riders were sitting dejectedly in the Mead Hall, nursing flagons upon flagons of mead.

Astrid looked around the Hall, seeing the usual low hubbub as vikings devoured chicken and mead like they were going on a ten day fast post that. No one had yet noticed that Hiccup was missing in the group, or if someone did notice, they didnt give it much thought. Food was the first priority for vikings, Astrid realised with a snort.

That was okay, because undue panic was, really, the last thing she needed.

She looked back at the group - or what remained of it, really. She had never fathomed how the group would fare without their leader, but she saw it with her own eyes now, and it wasn't good - complete lack of motivation within them and having the dynamic of a group of untrained riders.

Their group was void of any direction, be it of action or thought, basically. No need to beat around a bush to reach that conclusion.

Astrid sighed as she took another sip. An year ago, she just couldn't be bothered to think about Hiccup. The notion that their group will be metaphorically crippled by his absence would have been absurd then, but clear as rain now. Who knew that within a year, he could affect so much in her, or their, lives.

She knew why that was, too. Fishlegs was ultimately good of heart, and an ultra geek like Hiccup, but for the life of him, he just couldn't lead. He could co-lead fact-based missions WITH Hiccup, but not without him. That, and the three tricksters always laugh at his face whenever any sort of duty is assigned to them by him.

Snotlout was a bloody good warrior, but had a brain the size of a walnut, and an ego the size of Berk. He would lead the team to a catastrophic end instead of a successful one. While he was brash enough to get himself heard, she would rather follow the lead of a gronckle than that of the 'Snot'.

The twins - she shuddered at the thought. Really, enough said.

As for her, well, she did have a bit of a temper - even she knew this. That and huge impatience issues. Bind that with an axe and ample weapon practice, and she was a formidable opponent, but no leader. The others were legitimately afraid of her, and would do everything to get her to step down from the spot of leader.

Hiccup was a combination of all that was good in the team - patient, good of heart, exceedingly smart, and a great orator. A good leader, in short.

The fact that he rode the rarest dragon in her known world was a big plus, too.

But for some reason, he had gone completely missing. Whatever the reason was, it had something to do with her too. No matter what she said to herself, and no matter how small her entanglement was in his reason, it was there nonetheless. It was practically being naïve thinking otherwise.

She took another sip, looked up, and promptly blinked. Twice.

Stoick was headed their way, looking at her meaningfully. A chill rode up her spine as her left eye twitched. This would not be good.

The others saw their chief approaching too, and everybody sat up in attention. Stoick arrived at the table and scanned it's occupants.

"So, I see Hiccup's not here. Where is he?"

A beat of silence in the group. Stoick was taking quietly so as to not gather attention, something he was succeeding at.

Astrid looked around the group once, and gulped.

"Sir, truthfully, we don't know. We searched the entire island, so we can be sure that he is not here."

"Every nook and crevice?"

Skeptical Stoick, complete with a raised eyebrow. Astrid faltered, but only for a second.

"Every place we know of, sir."

"Hmm..."

Stoick didn't look happy. At all. Fishlegs quickly took up the talk stream from there.

"We are planning to leave Berk to search for him, sir. We were thinking of vising Outcast Island."

"Outcast Island?"

"Just to see if everything is in order, sir. We hope there won't be any problems, but if I know Dagur, he is cunning. He might be crazy, but he is also very persuasive. We would like to check on him and see if Hiccup has gone there for some reason."

Stoick listened to all of this with raised eyebrows. Then, he sighed.

"Right. Chances are that you won't find him there. What then?"

"Then... Then, uhhh..."

Astrid took over.

"Then we come back here, dig around a bit and set off."

"Wait, what?"

Everyone ignored Snotlout. Astrid carried on like there had been no interruption.

"We will take a map and some provisions, of course, but we will do our level best to find him. It won't be easy, obviously. He has not left any traceable tracks that we have found yet, but we will find him, sir."

"Do you mean that we will leave Berk? Are you crazy?"

Everyone stared at Snotlout. He shrugged.

"Seems dangerous, that's all."

" Hiccup is out there, Snotlout."

"I know, but we could always wait it out and see if he comes back, right?"

"Snot, Hiccup had gone off Berk alone once, and he was caught and locked up. Remember?"

"Alvin's our ally now!"

"There is danger all over the archipelago, Snotlout. Many vikings have tensed up since we integrated dragons into our life. You know this."

"I know that, but -"

"Enough Snotlout. If you wanna stay safe, you can stay here. No one will force you to come with us."

Snotlout just mumbled incoherently and said nothing.

"Right. Well, sir, we will find him. You have our word, we won't rest until we do."

Stoick had a glint in his eyes now. Perhaps anger.

"Well, you all better. Seeing that he used to spend the majority of his time with you guys, one should think that you all will know where he is. I want him home safe and sound. Is that understood?"

Yep, definitely anger. A beat passed.

"Y_yes sir."

Even Astrid sounded a bit unsure now.

"Good. Well, seeing that you all will be probably leaving early tomorrow, best if you leave for bed. Best not to attract attention. And remember, you better find him, or there will be consequences on the grounds of lack of attention and neglect. Good night."

No one questioned him as benches scraped, and the riders made a quick beeline for the great doors. Once they were outside, they heaved a unified sigh of relief. Then, Ruff spoke up.

"Well, Snotlout, I don't think you will be able to stay on Berk even if you wanted to."

Snotlout groaned as the twins smirked.


While Astrid and the others were being interrogated by Stoick, Hiccup was busy spying on the outcast prison from the security of a high cliff ledge. The very same he had used to spy on the Outcasts and Berserkers with the twins some time back, if he was not wrong.

While he knew that Alvin was their ally now, and that he was sure that he had no reasons to defect over to the bad side, Alvin still gave Hiccup the willies. Better this way, actually. A quick affirmative on Dagur still being in jail, and he will be out of here.

He kept an eye on the heavy-duty prison door via his spyglass. So far, no one had gone or come through it.

He was about to lower the optic device, when he saw the door opening. Just as he saw an Outcast guard run out, he heard high-pitched screams of frustrations, demanding to be let out.

Well, Dagur was still INSIDE his cell. That was good news, at least. Looking to the guard outside the prison door, he saw that guard bent down forwards, one hand on the rocky wall beside him and another massaging his neck, drawing in breath very painfully. It was almost as if someone had held him in a chokehold recently.

He should know, he knew the symptoms too well.

Hiccup sighed. Looks like the only thing keeping Dagur in jail was, well, the jail itself. The walls and bars, not the guards. Dagur was really strong, no matter how short he was. He hoped the bars would never give out, because of they did, stopping him will be hard. None of the guards were competent enough, no matter what Alvin said.

Another guard walked out from an unguarded cave entrance, a cave Hiccup could only fathom lead to the inner establishments, towards the injured guard, who seemed to be finally straightening up. Thay had a quick chat, and the replacement quickly disappeared into the prison and shut the door. The guard outside quickly walked away and into the cave entrance, disappearing from view.

Well, that was that.

Hiccup finally lowered his spyglass and looked to his side. Toothless had finished - no, completely decimated, his quota of fish. His lone fish remained untouched, though Toothless was staring intently at it.

Now that it was confirmed Dagur was where he is supposed to be, some of his appetite returned. Toothless quickly smoked the fish on being asked, and Hiccup bit into it eagerly.

He looked around, seeing just rock and caves. He supposed that it would be a place good enough to make camp tonight. He looked up, to see that darkness had almost fallen. He will depart for Berk the day after - he had to meet and talk to his father about something that had been occupying his mind for some time now. He would rather not meet or talk to any of the teens - they would just prove to be obstacles in his plan, and he wanted a bit freedom which had been due to him for a long time now. Or so Hiccup liked to think.

Finishing up with his evening meal, he quickly set out towards one of the caves. He looked inside upon reaching it - it was completely rocky. As a cave was supposed to be, he guessed.

He knew there were no trees or shrubs on Outcast Island, so asking for padding to sleep on will be way too much.

Well, another night on a rocky floor just like the day before, he guessed. On the bright side, he had a roof over his head this time, at least.

He better get used to sleeping on rough areas if he was to carry out his plan, he supposed.

Hoping that Outcasts won't find him the next day like this, he quickly burrowed under Toothless' wing, and drifted off to sleep.


"Ready?"

"Yep!" - A cry of unison between four people.

"Good. Let's go."

Stormfly took off the second Astrid finished speaking. She heard three other sets of wings start to beat behind her.

True to her word, Astrid and the others had assembled outside the academy door early the very next day. All of them had packed some food and water as supplies. They will require medical supplies and bedding if they wanna be gone for multiple days, but this was enough for a visit to Outcast Island.

At least, Astrid hoped it will be enough. She didn't really fancy unwanted wounds from this trip. Her axe was strapped to her back in any case. She really hoped things didn't somehow turn out to be bad. That will be a problem.

Shaking her head a bit, she looked behind her, to see the others flying steadily and diligently behind her. She smiled a bit - Hiccup had all of them working as a team without even being there.

She turned around to look forward towards the open ocean, the direct route to Outcast Island. A silent mutter was next.

"Well, here we go."


"I guess we are done here, bud."

Toothless yawned as Hiccup looked around one last time. He had just come back after relieving himself. Extricating himself from the Night Fury had been difficult, but he had done it.

He was in really high spirits, something that wasn't a daily occurence. He finally had a direction in life that he could go towards without having to worry about anything. He would live for himself and Toothless.

"Tell ya what, Toothless? Let's take the longer route today. I really want to stretch your wings today. Let's see how vertiginous your flying speeds can actually be. Up for flying at breakneck speeds?"

He needn't ask twice, he supposed. The drowsy-looking dragon leapt up energetically before licking Hiccup once, then proceeding to do a dragon dance (a graceful prancing with a bit of draconic flair, really) around Hiccup. He laughed.

"Yep, no more waiting for the others, I suppose. Let's go."

He quickly jumped up in the saddle and clicked his prosthetic in the stirrup clip.

Then they took off - boy and dragon flying as if constituting a single soul, quickly gathered speed and height.

He looked back once, and hoped Dagur would stay in jail for as long as necessary, before looking forward, quickly adjusting his route to the one which circled around the periphery of the edges of the archipelago. He flattened himself on the dragon body beneath him and opened the tailfin to it's most optimum extent, the setting for maximum speed. They picked up speed ans soon became a blak blur.

"Well, here we go. Berk, we are coming."


AAH, NOTHING LIKE A BIT OF SUSPENSE AND CONTINUED ANGST. TO ME, AT LEAST. HEHE.

ANYWAY, ANOTHER CHAPTER FINISHED.

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