Chapter 5:

Hiccup's eyes scanned and rescanned the room over and over again. No one was inside, yet Arkyn's trunks still sat in the same spot they had been in the previous evening. "He'll be back." Astrid said flatly, noticing the remaining possessions. "The only question now is where did he go?"

Hiccup was surprised at his friend's observation skills. He was still trying to collect his thoughts and Astrid had already figured out his leave of absence was not permanent. This did not change the fact that he could be in danger, however. Or causing trouble. A little voice in the back of Hiccup's head said. "Search the room." He instructed. "But NOT the trunks, Snotlout." Hiccup stated sternly as he noticed the Viking head straight in their direction.

"Found something." Came Astrid's voice from down on the ground. She was kneeling on Arkyn's makeshift bed as she retrieved a small note hidden under the covers.

Hiccup was very impressed. "Well that was fast… C'mon. Let's go downstairs and read it."

The group of teens rushed downstairs and all took their own seats at the Chief's large dining table. Astrid hurriedly unfolded the note and began to read:

Hiccup and company,

I'm addressing this note to you all because no doubt you have found it together in my absence. I'm sure you are all very curious as to why I ended up on Berk and what happened to get me here. You'll all find out in good time, but the more eager among you have the opportunity to do so today if you're up to the task. I have to learn more about each of you before you can learn more about me.

I have left this household and traveled to a point somewhere on the island. Don't worry, it will be within an hour's walk. Find me before sundown tonight and I'll tell you everything you want to know. I don't care how you do it and I don't care who among you reaches me. It could be all of you. It could be none of you. Whatever happens, I will return to the Haddock's house before midnight.

Use those tracking skills and good luck. Time is running out as you read this. The sun stops for no man.

-Arkyn

There was a dead silence as Astrid set the note down on the table. She looked up at everyone and tightened the grip on her axe. "Every man for himself." Astrid declared quietly, and before any of the others registered what she had said she sprang out of her chair and sprinted towards the door, flinging it open violently. Her friends soon followed and they all fanned out in every direction. The hunt was on.

Astrid found herself walking alone at a shallow distance into the forest, her boots snapping sticks and branches as she went. Everyone else had gone into the village itself assuming Arkyn would pick one of the spots he was shown on the tour yesterday, but Astrid thought differently.

Back when Berk still warred with dragons, Astrid's dad had given her countless tracking lessons for both game and dragon hunting so she could be prepared as a warrior in the future. Knowing Arkyn was not stupid (he had proven that when he predicted all the dragon riders would find the note together), she had a strong feeling he'd do everything he could to throw them off the trail, and she was not having it. That meant the woods. There was only about 2 hours until sundown because the days were always shorter near the winter time, and wherever Astrid was going had to be within 1 hour away. This did not leave a lot of time to find a lead, but she was nothing if not competitive and determined. Astrid was going to win his game, and when she did, she was going to make him wish he'd never put it on.

Hiccup had been searching everywhere in the village and found nothing. He had asked every person he came across if they had seen anyone that looked like Arkyn. Along the way Hiccup had even spotted his other friends several times and each time he did they ended up empty handed as well. Well…he spotted everyone except for Astrid. Where the hell did she go? Hiccup thought to himself. Arkyn couldn't have possibly gone that far according to his letter, but he was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, a particular line from the text rang in Hiccup's memory. I don't care how you do it. It was right there in Arkyn's writing. Next thing he knew, Hiccup found himself sprinting towards the arena to get Toothless, who was playing with the other dragons. He was going to need a pair of wings if he wanted any hope of completing this challenge. Hiccup gave the loud whistle call to save some time and before long his best friend was bounding out of the arena exit and up the path to meet him halfway. Hiccup quickly mounted, and off they went. They were winning this thing.

Back in the forest, Astrid was getting wildly fed up with her failure to find a lead on Arkyn's whereabouts. She had barely 30 minutes left to start the journey if she was going to use the full hour of travel time. About to call it quits, Astrid flared up in a fit of rage and threw her axe at a nearby tree. Walking over to it to retrieve her axe, she just happened to look down and see footprints leading from behind its trunk towards the base of the big hill that led up to the cliffs. The prints had a rounded front which faded into a blunt and patterned rear. Boots.

"Well that's just great." She spoke aloud to herself, staring up towards the hike she soon had to make in order to reach the top of the cliffs. They weren't extremely high, but it was still a strenuous climb. Catching her breath and clearing her thoughts, she started walking in the direction of the tracks, swearing she was going to kill Arkyn once she found him for putting her through all this trouble.

Hiccup soared through the skies in the ever dimming light, looking out on the town below. He spotted Ruff, Tuff, Fishlegs, and Snotlout all in a group by the docks, apparently having given up on searching separately. Still unaware of what both Astrid's and Arkyn's location may be, he circled one final time before heading in the direction of the forest. "What do you say, bud? Want to go check the cove real fast?" Toothless gave a warble of approval and away they went. It was a shot in the dark, but the time Hiccup could save by flying on his dragon was incalculable so he decided to check that area anyway.

Could Arkyn really navigate these woods? Hiccup thought to himself as he gazed below at the thick canopy that splayed before him. Knowing so little about the newcomer there was no way to tell. Perhaps Arkyn had an impeccable sense of direction…or maybe he carried some hunting experience with him. Whatever it was, Hiccup gestured he'd find out soon enough. Whether or not that was today or some other time down the road was yet to be determined.

The sun was setting quickly. Astrid had been walking for almost 45 minutes now and was really cutting it close if she wanted to find Arkyn by sundown. She looked out towards the open sea and saw it flash with gold and orange as the dying light reflected off of its glassy surface. Arkyn's trail became faint in places but thanks to the skills Astrid had picked up from her father she was always able to find its direction once again.

I must be getting close. Astrid was nearing the top of the cliffs and was about to crest the steep slope when all of a sudden the trail went cold. No footprints, no matted grass, no trampled leaves, and no broken sticks. There was nothing. Astrid began to chastise herself. "Come ON! How could there be no trail? I followed that Thor forsaken path all the way up the side of this damn mountain. On Odin's name I swear…if that son of a half troll doesn't tell me every last detail of his life when I finally track him down he's going to have way bigger problems than just being stranded on this island." She slammed her axe into the earth below her out of frustration. The blade became wedged in the loose dirt.

Taking a moment to calm herself down, Astrid pulled her axe out of the ground and slung it over her shoulder. She then rotated to stand in the exact opposite direction the trail had come from, and began to take slow steps forward while looking all around her for signs of new tracks.

2 minutes later Astrid stepped out of the woods and into an open clearing at the top of the mountain, and there he was. Sitting cross legged at the edge of a cliff staring out into the sunset. Astrid wanted to shout some snarky insult, but she caught her breath and took in the scene before her. She had never actually been up here before…not in all her 15 years on Berk. It was beautiful. The whole town was visible below from this vantage point and you could see the exact moment the bottom of the sun kissed the horizon line at the end of the expansive sea. She was caught way off guard. It almost made the hike she had completed worth it. Almost.

Snapping back to reality and remembering the climb and steep slopes behind her, Astrid gripped her trusty axe tightly and leaned against the single large tree positioned in the dead center of the clearing. Coughing loudly to get his attention, she waited patiently to see the look on his face when she finally got the chance to tell him how pissed off she was.

Arkyn glanced back and slowly stood up to face her. Instead of walking closer he remained firm on the edge of the cliff. Something in Astrid's mind broke as she noticed several things. Arkyn was tall at his full height. Almost, if not, 6 feet. He had removed the bandages they had placed around his head in the arena and his dark brown hair took on a dull shine in the light at this hour. Then there was the sun…it formed a perfect halo around his figure. Only Arkyn's silhouette was visible as the bright orange orb back lit the scene. It hit her all at once and she had to ignore the confused feelings in her head and push forward on autopilot through her original plan.

"Hey." Astrid snapped. "You've got some crazy nerve running away up here like that. I have half a mind to push you over the edge for the worry you gave the rest of us."

"I take it you all found my note then." He replied calmly, finally stepping over to where Astrid was perched. "I'm impressed you made it in time. I did not pick a location so easily accessible.

"Stop. Right. There. I don't want you to take another step before you tell me everything concerning your presence on Berk. And about the other thing…my dad taught me how to track from a very young age. I found your trail in the woods leading away from Hiccup's house, so don't act so full of yourself."

"Tracking…a good skill to have. Anyways, you've proven you're quite the capable Viking, so I suppose I owe you the story then." He took a brief pause and continued. "My full name is Arkyn Stryerson. I'm 15 years old and I grew up on an island outside this archipelago called Nomanisan Island."

Well no wonder Astrid had never met someone from there before. It was at least a day's flight to reach the edge of the archipelago…not to mention a boat ride. This got her thinking. "You said yesterday you came from nowhere. That sounds pretty strange to me, so what's the story there, huh?"

Before the boy could answer the sound of flapping wings interrupted him from overhead and a large black dragon came in to land. its rider dismounted to the left and joined the two already standing there.

"Taking advantage of flight…" Arkyn muttered. "I see you're quite the determinist yourself."

"Yeah yeah…you had no right to leave that note for us. Wandering off on your own…you could've ended up even more hurt than the state you showed up in." Hiccup scolded.

"I understand, Hiccup. I just had to find out who I could easily trust. Life is all about who you can and can't trust, and a Viking capable of beating me at my own test is certain to have strong character. You both did very well."

"Well I'm finding it pretty damn hard to trust you right now." Astrid hissed. Hiccup nodded in agreement.

Arkyn sighed and sat down on the soft grass. Before he spoke again Astrid filled Hiccup in on the small bit he had missed. The new Viking's face slowly fell and he continued his story in a low voice, taking his words slowly. "Are you two aware of a dragon called the Screaming Death?" He emphasized the rather intimidating name at the end of his sentence and his own voice wavered slightly as he said it aloud.

"I don't think so. I've only heard of the Whispering Death from the book of dragons." Hiccup responded.

"The Screaming Death is a titan wing Whispering Death. 25 times the size with outer jaws as big as your great hall and rotating inner teeth that tear up anything that finds its way inside. It appears with blank white scales and glowing red eyes that are enough to practically paralyze any Viking that gazes into them. Truly a terrifying beast."

"Why are you telling us this?" Astrid asked impatiently.

"Do you want to know why I'm here or not?" An equally annoyed Arkyn responded. "One day about a week ago, my whole village was woken up by the raid siren. My parents and I rushed outside to see what was going on only to find hundreds of our residents rushing towards to docks to board ships. We rushed inside, grabbed what we could, and left. Halfway to the ships is when we first saw it. The Screaming Death was swooping down from the sky and tunneling through our island like it was nothing. It was chaos. That was when my parents turned to me and gave me the trunks I have now. Through lots of tears they explained to me that there was no way all 3 of us were going to make it off of the island. They ordered me to run to the island's south shore and untie a lifeboat from the emergency line there instead, and they were going to try and make it the rest of the way through the crumbling rock to the longboats instead. There was no telling who had a better chance." Arkyn's voice became heavy as he recounted his experience.

"I tried to refuse and go with them but there was no other option. I watched them run in the direction of the docks and before I knew what was happening, the Screaming Death swooped down again to my right and made another tunnel. It sent rocks large and small everywhere. One hit me on the head, and that's how I got the injury. I was dizzy for just a moment and then the only thought that remained in my mind was that I had to get my ass to the south shore, so I picked up the trunks and ran. I ran without stopping until I got to the small boat. I could still hear the screaming behind me when I cast off. About 20 grueling minutes of floating later, I heard a deafening crash and watched the island sink into the ocean behind me. The Screaming Death brought about the total destruction of my home. When I told you I came from nowhere, I meant it. There was. Nothing. Left."

"And your parents?" Hiccup prodded timidly.

"They are almost certainly both dead." Arkyn finished, wiping the moisture from his eyes. He was not about to cry in front of the people that saved him. "That's when I realized that in my rush I had forgotten to grab any oars, and all that was left in my boat was me and my family's trunks. By the way…" Arkyn added cautiously. "I'll tell you guys in confidence what's in the second one. It's most of my family's gold savings. They hoped that if I did make it out I wouldn't make it out with nothing. That's why I was being so protective of it." His tangent over, Arkyn got back to the story. "At that point nothing could be done. I was floating with no food and no way to get anywhere. I'm surprised I didn't die myself…" He trailed off. "And you know the rest. Then I landed on Berk, and now I'm here."

There was a long pause of silence lasting at least 10 minutes. The sun finally disappeared fully behind the horizon, and wherever the rest of the teens had run off to, they had now lost Arkyn's game.

Hiccup was the first to speak. "We're…so sorry. We had no idea."

"Don't worry about it, Hiccup. From what I hear around town, your life hasn't exactly been a picnic recently either." There was some more sitting before finally, Arkyn stood up and stretched. "You may see more clearly now why I wrote that note. I'm not sure the others would be mature enough to hear all of this so soon."

"Trust me…your assessment is correct. I'm not sure Snotlout will ever be mature enough for anything like that." Astrid mused.

"Well, it's dark now. I suppose we should think about heading home soon." Arkyn thought aloud.

"I flew here, and Toothless is fine carrying 2 people, but definitely not 3. Arkyn, want to ride home with me since you don't know the woods as well?"

"I appreciate the offer Hiccup, but I've never flown on anything before. Frankly, I don't want today to be my first day."

"That makes sense. What about you Astrid?" Hiccup asked this with an expectant tone, hoping the girl he held hands with earlier today would take him up on another ride together. Unfortunately he didn't have as much luck this time.

"Sorry Hiccup, but like you said Arkyn doesn't know the woods as well. He may have found his way here in the daylight but it's a whole different world in there at night. I think I'd better walk him home if that's alright."

Astrid couldn't see it in the darkness but Hiccup's face fell. "Oh yeah…no problem. Makes perfect sense. I'll see you guys over there." Everyone exchanged goodbyes and split in their different directions. As Arkyn began to hike down the mountain from the cliff with Astrid in the lead, he finally felt as though he made his first two friends at his new home. This made him glad, because after all he'd been through, Arkyn would definitely be needing them in the future.