"So she's been trying to kill you for two years?!" I grimly nodded at Astrid. We were all back at my place, I was sitting on my bed, along with Astrid. Hiccup was standing next to her, and Eret was on my left. We had put Akumu in a cell, then scoured the whole island of Berk last night. Apparently, Drago was some sort magician, because there was no sign of him, except for the blood from his stab wound. But there was no trail to follow, even the tracking dragons had no luck.

"Yeah, I've looked into everything about her I could find, but nothing popped up that would correlate with me or anything I've done."

"What do you mean, what you've done?" I froze for a second, silently cursing myself that I let it slip, and that Hiccup caught it.

"I worked with the local law enforcement where I lived."

"…What did you do?"

"I helped catch people, like Drago, and put them in jail. Generally, you'd have to go through training with a firearm, but I was well versed in Martial Arts, so I was a close combat officer."

"Fire arm? That sounds painful." Hiccup asked, confused.

"No, no, it's not what you think! Um, you guys have cannons, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Imagine a cannon, shrunk down and placed in your hand. Their called guns, and they are very dangerous." Astrid jumped back into the conversation, and the look on her face would have been hilarious in almost any other situation.

"That would blow your hand off!"

"Fortunately, inventors have made it so they don't. Normally law enforcement carry such a weapon, to protect themselves and others against threats. When I was offered a gun, I rejected it, saying it wasn't honorable to use such a weapon, and I would only use one if it was my last resort."

"Wow…so you have something that can end someone's life without them even knowing…I'm guessing the law enforcement aren't the only ones with these "guns", am I right?" Astrid was the only one to speak up, the other two silent, trying to process what I'd just told them.

"Correct. Guns are actually very common in my time, and some people have even passed tests to conceal them on their persons just in case they need to defend themselves."

"But why would Akumu be after you? Did you have to use a gun to…you know…" I winced and hesitated.

"…No. I've had to use one as a scare tactic, but I only shot the ground in front of the person." My jaw was tense, and I could only hope they wouldn't notice. Eret spoke up at that point.

"But what's that got to do with this girl who's after you?" I huffed in frustration.

"That's just it! I have put people in jail, yes. But I've checked, and as far as I know, no one was in relation to her before she came after me! It's bugged the ever living crap out of me, and I still don't know why!" I flopped back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. I jumped slightly when someone touched my arm. I looked up to see Hiccup holding my shoulder. I sat up and dropped my head into my hands, sighing loudly.

"What am I going to do? I don't know if I can just take her back to our time, then she would keep coming after me. But if I leave her here, she would rally up some ragtag band of idiots. And they would come after you guys… I can't just…kill her…either. It's not right…even if I have done it before…" I muttered the last part, but apparently Astrid had super hearing.

"Did you just say you've killed her before?!" I jerked my head back and stared at her, eyes wide when I realized my screw-up. Out of all of the battles the Riders have been through, they never went for truly fatal attacks, mostly just disabling their opponents. The only person they truly might have killed was Viggo, but that was his own fault, practically leaping head first into a volcano.

"What?!" Hiccup and Eret both stared at me in shock.

"What do you mean you've killed her before? How is that possible?" Eret was silent as Hiccup threw the question in my lap.

"I…It…I didn't have a choice…" I shut my eyes tight, bowing my head. I didn't want to look at any of them right then.

'They know now…they know my secret. All these months, and now they know I'm a murderer…'

"What are you talking about?!" They all started asking questions at once. It got to be too much, so I jumped up and walked out the door, slamming it on the way out. I leaned against the wall and collapsed to the ground.

'My friends know…I could have kept it from them…I could have been just Rai in their eyes. Now they're going to see me as a monster…A monster…That's all I am…' Tesla came over from his and Sting's little shack I had built and rumbled a question.

"I'm…I'm okay Tesla…Just, a lot on my mind right now…" He wouldn't have it and nudged me. "Tesla, don't." He nudged me harder this time, grumbling. "Tesla, I said don't." He grabbed me by my coat and hauled me off the ground, walking away from the hut.

"Tesla! Let me go! I'm not in the mood to play!" I was trying to slip out of my coat, but I couldn't get in the right position. "TESLA! DROP ME! NOW!" I landed in a heap on the ground. I stood up, dusting myself off aggressively. "What's the matter with you?! You know you don't just pick me up like that!" He looked sad that I was yelling at him but determined. A wing reached out and grabbed me, pulling me close.

"I'm not in the mood for this!" He simply laid down on his side, pulling me in tight with his wing. I was trying to push him away. "Let me go! Tesla! Stop ignoring me!" He restricted my movements as he curled his body around me. "I said let me out! I don't want to do this right now! I just, I…" I collapsed against his side, and weakly pounded my fist against his scales.

"Just let me out…I don't deserve this. I don't deserve anything you've done for me." His wing pulled away just enough so he could see me, but I still couldn't move. I wouldn't look at him. He rumbled and nudged me. I looked up, and he jerked back in shock.

I was crying.

««{{P.O.V.C.}}»»

Tesla didn't know what to do, he'd never seen Rai cry before. Sure, there was when they'd blown up the stables back on the Edge; but he was out that whole time and didn't remember anything. Rai had to fill him in on what happened, and Toothless had to tell him what really happened, because Rai never said he had cried.

Now he was staring at the one person he cared about. The one person not to alienate him because of his choices or attitude. And they were crying. Tesla didn't know what to do. He was having a mini panic attack in his head, a battle of choices. Should he leave him here and get help? No, bad idea. Should he get Sting to watch him? Yeah, that might be a good choice, but the younger brat had an extremely short attention span, and might not stick around, even if he did care for their rider.

Tesla almost smacked himself. He's a dragon, Duh! He turned his head and shot a blast of lightning into the sky, which exploded above the island.

««{{P.O.V.C.}}»»

I could feel Tesla shift around, then hear/feel him fire a blast into the sky.

'He's setting off an alarm.' I suddenly shoved myself under the back side of his wing, where there were no muscles, and dove into the trees. I heard Tesla shriek in shock and charge after me. I leaped up into a tree and froze. Tesla burst through the brush and froze as well, listening and looking. Neither of us moved for a while, then he heard the others and turned to let them know where he was. I took that time to leap from the tree and started frog-hopping in the canopy. Tesla heard me, and charged through the brush, but it was too thick for him to get through. He desperately called out, pleading for me to come back. I stopped and looked back, tears clouding my eyes.

"I'm so sorry…"

««{{¤}}»»

I was leaping through the trees, not wanting to leave tracks behind. I landed on a branch, but my foot slipped, and I fumbled to grab something. I snagged one and swung there, trying to catch my breath. I grunted and hauled myself onto the branch, then shifted to lean against the tree trunk.

'No one will see me unless they look up…I'll just rest here…' My thoughts went back to my friends that I just left, my eyes watering again. 'Hiccup, Astrid, Eret…Sting…Tesla…I'm sorry, but I can't stay here. I need to get home…' My goal was set, and a way might have presented itself yesterday.

'Be ready Akumu. I'm getting you out. And I'm not taking no for an answer.' I got back up and launched myself towards the village, keeping far into the tree-line. I heard the telltale flapping of wings and paused. The dragon was just flying over, probably to check up with Hiccup on the search. I waited till they were a good distance away, then continued.

««{{¤}}»»

Eventually, I had fallen asleep in the crook of two tree branches, leaning against the trunk of the tree. When I'd woken up, the sky that was peeking through the leaves was a fiery orange color.

'Dang it! I only meant to rest for a minute!' I started moving again, knowing Hiccup and the others were still looking for me. 'I can't let them find me…I don't know what to say, and they're going to have questions…I just have to get home…' Soon I could see the night fires of the village. I maneuvered over to the prison, which, not surprisingly, is built right next to the training arena.

'Probably to keep any prisoners awake and terrified, knowing their death was right around the corner…' I got on top of the prison after house hopping a few times. The prison was set into the ground halfway, so getting on the roof wasn't that hard. I stopped and surveyed the guards and their positions. There were only three of them, and they were all half asleep. I was about to drop through the open ceiling into the hallway when a voice came from the entrance.

"Have any of you seen Rai? We can't find him!" The guards all gave negative answers, and she stomped her foot in frustration. "When I find that time traveling son of a yak dung, I'm going to…" She stalked off.

'She sounds exhausted…' I shook my head to focus and checked on the guards. They were all on alert, and when one heard a sound, the three of them stalked off on the same direction. I'm sorry? Did you call for 900 pounds of no strategy? Yeah, they all went that way. I dropped down once I was sure they were all gone, and looked for Akumu.

"Well, didn't figure you the break-in type. Aren't you supposed to be Mr. Goody-two-shoes?" My head snapped to my right, and saw her sitting on the ground, leaning against a wall of the cell, pretending to study her nails.

"Come on, I'm getting you out of here." She sat up and stared at me.

"What? Why? Don't you want the vikings to have their fun before you finish me off?"

"No. I'm not going to stand by and watch as your loud mouth gets you killed by a bunch of vikings. Now get up." Her eyes narrowed in thought.

"How do you know I won't just kill you once I get out of here?"

"Because you unfairly punched me a few times, after I had ran more than a mile, and then proceeded to fight me for five minutes; and I still won. Now be quite!" Her smile dropped slightly, then came back. She spoke with a low tone this time.

"Fair enough dragon boy. But what do you need me for?" I hesitated.

"Because I don't know how to get home. And I need to leave…there's nothing left for me here…" I walked over and placed my hand against the lock. There was a small click, and the door swung open.

"How did you do that?!" I walked over to the stash of prisoners' belongings and grabbed her cloak.

"Leave now, questions later!" She smirked and pushed herself off the ground. I handed her the cloak and she swung it around her shoulders, clasping it in the front. I looked around, making sure the guards didn't come back. "Okay, let's go." We both leaped up and grabbed the ceiling rafters, then hauled ourselves up. I ran quietly along the roof, hearing Akumu following. We dropped down and ran silently along the houses, since the ground was quieter than the roofs. I stopped at a corner of a storage hut and peaked around the corner. There was a guard walking this way. I turned to Akumu and pointed up. We jumped up and landed on the roof, stalking along the shingles. One slipped when I put my weight on it, and if Akumu hadn't grabbed me, I would have fallen right on the guard's head.

The shingle landed in front of the guard, clattering to a stop. The guard picked it up and studied it, then looked towards the roof. He saw nothing and tossed the shingle against the wall, shrugging before walking off.

"Good going dragon klutz, you almost got us killed!" Akumu wasn't pleased, and I wasn't either.

"It's not my fault they don't have good roofing here!" I snapped back and kept moving. I pointed to the forest and she nodded. I leapt from roof to tree and turned to see her about to do the same. She wanted to get a running start, so she had backed up a few feet, and got ready to run.

I looked down as she started, and shot my hands up, waving for her to stop. She skidded to a halt and glared at me. I pointed down and she followed my finger. There was another guard walking by. She dropped her hands in exasperation and glared at me. I simply shrugged. As soon as the guard was gone, she leaped over and glared at me again.

"You are going to get me killed!" I winced.

"Let's get going…I know where a boat is…no one will miss it." I turned to go when she spoke up.

"Why don't we just ride one of your little pets?" I spun back around, somehow not losing my balance.

"They are not my pets! They were my friends, and I wouldn't let you ride one of them anyways." I hissed at her.

"Were?" She questioned.

"…Let's just say they know about my past…and what I did."

"They kicked you out for murder? I thought they were vikings? Don't they murder for fun?"

"I…left…" She pulled back and gave me a once over.

"Really? Why would you do that?" The confusion on her face was genuine, and for some reason, I couldn't help but answer.

"Because. The looks said everything. I'm not who they thought I was. I'm a monster in their eyes."

"I'm still going to kill you, I hope you know that." I rolled my eyes at her.

"Yeah, yeah, just wait till we get home, got it?" She shrugged and we leapt off into the trees. We reached a secluded part of the beach and dropped out of the trees, taking a small break. We both leaned against a tree, making sure we were facing each other as we caught our breaths. Trust was not a mutual feeling we shared.

"…So…What exactly are you going to do once we get back…?"

"Small talk? Really Akumu? *sigh* I'm not going to try and turn you in if that's what you're asking." She didn't believe me, obviously.

"But why? I've tried to kill you for years now, and you're just going to let me go? How does that make sense?"

"Because…what would I accomplish by coming after you?"

"I don't know…" I could see she was trying to come up with a solid answer but was struggling. "I've tried to kill you so many times! Why wouldn't you try and capture or kill me?"

"I…don't know." I stared up at the stars peeking through the leaves. "Maybe I just gave up a while ago…I didn't feel the need. Hey…how did you come back? Really?"

"I made a deal with the devil." Her trash-eating grin was too obvious.

"For some reason…that's actually believable…" I sat there, blinking a couple of times. I shook my head and stood up, stretching my arms over my head. "Alright, you ready to go?" She stood up, dusting off her cloak.

"I guess. So how we getting off this rock?" I simply shot her a look. "What?" I didn't say anything, and simply pointed to a small boat gently rocking on the waves, tied to a rock close to the water. "When'd you find that?"

"I didn't, I brought it here."

"Um…you rowed it…right?" I turned and looked at her, a deadpanned look on my face.

"No, I'm Hulk Heckin' Hogan and I carried the blasted thing across land."

"Geez, sorry I asked…" I smirked when she walked away.

'Too easy.' I walked over as she studied the boat, not quite willing to get on. I rolled my eyes and grabbed the rope, pulling the boat closer to shore. I yanked again, bringing it a few feet from dry land, salt water slapping the sides.

"You expect me to get in that? Sorry dragon boy, but you're out of luck." I stared for a solid second, then started to untie the rope from around the rock. "Where are you going?"

"Home. Where else?"

"You said you didn't know about the por- way home!" She cut herself off, obviously not wanting to slip up.

"Yes, actually, I do know about the portal, and I am going home."

"Then why did you break me out?!" She hissed.

"…Because I didn't want to leave you in the hands of vikings. Hiccup may be Chief, but he still has a council. Which means, you'd be dead by the end of the night." She stared at me, her mouth open slightly as her brows pushed together in an almost disgusted manner.

"You…why?"

"Why?" She nodded. "Because for all of your self-absorbed, psychotic, petty, murderous ways, you don't deserve death…again."

"I…You…grr…" She stomped over and plopped herself into the boat, folding her arms.

"Pouting doesn't suit you dearie."

"Call me that again and I'm pushing you over board." I chuckled as I tossed the tie down rope into the boat. I pushed it off shore, and leaped into it, making it rock. "AH! Watch it jerk!" I slapped my hand over her mouth. She was about to ripped it off and yell at me, but I had a finger to my lips. I slowly turned around and scanned the tree line. She pulled away from my hand, which I dropped, and whispered. "What?"

"…I don't know…Let's go, move over." We switched seats so I was in the middle of the boat and she was at the back. I sat down and grabbed the oars. I slid them into place and started rowing slowly, not wanting to make any noise.

"Well…this should take a few days…"