I'm sorry for the errors my writing. I don't really edit my stories after finishing them, just because I'm lazy hehe.

Hiccup's POV

Having arrived at the castle of the kingdom, the servants immediately put me into a wash. They first wiped off any dirt and grime all over me, which happened to be the porridge itself. Later, they led me to a bathroom, where a wooden tub of hot water waited for me.

It was exactly what I needed. Limping my way around, I reached the tub and stripped myself gently. After so, I hopped in, and relaxed for a moment.

Creak…

I nearly jumped in shock to see a female servant entering the room with a towel.

"Chief Hiccup?"

"W-What are you doing?" I asked.

"I am here to wash you, as I was tasked to," she approached me with a smile nonchalantly. I was blushing mad.

"I-I can wash myself! No need to!"

"Relax, Chief," she places the towel aside, taking out some soaps from a cabinet. "You're in good hands."

"I… insist. Please, I am not used to having somebody else wash me. I'm fine by my own," I pleaded, gripping the wall of the tub. The servant gave me a stare, nodding afterwards.

"Very well," she stood up, "If you need anything, I will be outside."

"Thank you."

With that, she left the room. I could finally relax again. I laid my back, intentionally drowning myself in the warm water to feel the warmth completely. It was heavenly.

I opened my eyes to see the surface blurrily. The color of the ceiling was the color of ash black. The first thing that came to mind was ash. I could only wonder why.

I closed my eyes once again to enjoy the warmth of the water. When I was about to resurface, I felt that my body was pinned down. My eyes opened to see what it was, and they couldn't believe what they saw. Mom?

Her forehead seemed to have a cut on it, allowing blood to trail its way down her face. Some even dropped into the water. Her hand grasped my head by the temples, keeping it underwater. I gave her arm a push to get my head free from her grasp, but she didn't flinch an inch.

I was running out of breath quickly due to panic. I used both arms to break free, but it was a vain effort. She was so strong. All in sudden, she added more pressure with her fingers, almost like trying to break my skull. Maybe it was what she was trying to do. It hurt so much, I screamed in agony.

And then I woke up.

I never drowned myself in the sleep, after all. The cozy warmth of the water put me into sleep, with a nightmare waiting by the end of it, apparently.

Two knocks sounded from the door across the room.

"Chief? Are you done yet? You haven't fallen asleep, have you?"

The previous servant.

"N-No! I have not! I just finished, in fact," I stood from the tub to dry myself off.

Anna's POV

What ever happened to him?

He had a bruise on the cheek, his outfit had many parts with cuts, not to mention his own skins. His eyes lacked of a soul, as if he was never there. He was probably too tired, but I couldn't help thinking that it might be the case. Something traumatic had happened.

Why was he imprisoned in a Therondian ship? I swear those men were too much of fools to not answer my simple questions… foolishness can only bring you so far. They somehow didn't know that I could just ask Hiccup himself later on.

They chose this. Very well.

The door of the small dining room in which I was in opened, revealing none other than himself, the chief of Berk. He wore a simple white shirt with a dark green vest, and a pair of trousers for his bottom half. I smiled at him, and gestured him to sit across me.

Hiccup nodded, and used his crutch to walk his way. On the table, foods were already served for him, but only one cutlery; a spoon. Berkians mostly ate with their bare hands, but Hiccup ate with a spoon.

"Thank you… Anna," he spoke, pulling the bowl of soup in front of him closer. "But I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish… all of these," he eyed at every single dish in front of him. Indeed, there were several, probably one dish too much, but I ordered extra since he might be in the need for extra nutrition.

"I also have had breakfast… you know," he chuckled, sipping on the soup. I raised a brow at his statement.

"Breakfast? You mean what you had all over your previous outfit?" I pointed a finger at him. "You must have been very hungry, there was food all over you."

He smiled. Gorgeously.

"Perhaps that was the case."

"You'll manage. Now I know it's not appropriate to talk and eat in the same time—"

"It is?" He cut me. Right. Different culture.

"Uh… it is. Maybe not in Berk, hehe," I sheepishly said. For a really brief second, I saw a flash of sadness on his eyes when I mentioned the name of his village.

"Um… Obviously, I really would like to know what happened to you, what made you end up in a Therondian ship. But I sense that it might be a sensitive topic, maybe you just want to talk about it later?" I asked, folding my hands with high hope.

Hiccup sank his spoon in the soup, staring at it as if he was seeing himself in the soup.

"Therondian… you said?" He asked, without looking at me.

"Yes. Therondia. A kingdom from the south. They recently signed a treaty with us to be allies. Did something happen?"

The chief pressed the spoon so hard with his thumb, judging from the color of it turning white due to the pressure. He was in pain; it was too obvious. I tried to reach for his shoulder, but he laid back against the chair, revealing his green eyes that screamed the trauma that they had witnessed.

"M-Maybe let's talk about it later, Hiccup… finish your food first—"

"They… they killed all of them," he spoke. My eyes opened the widest at his statement. "We were losing. Their weaponry was too much for us, and combine that with my stupidity in not investing some labor in the island defense system, we had nowhere to go but the boats. But they sank them! I turned myself in because their leader said that he would spare the lives of our people if I did so. It was a trap. They kept killing regardless, and I was already put in their cell to be sold."

He took a deep breath and faced his lap, most likely to hide his tears, but many drops fell to his lap already. I rushed to his side and hugged him from behind.

"RAGHHHHHH!—"

His scream was deafening, but I tightened my hug instead. I shoved my hands on his arms to soothe him, as it was effective on my sister. But he screamed more and more hysterically. It inevitably invited some worried servant into the room, who merely stopped by the door when they saw me trying my best to calm the chief of Berk down, if… Berk still even existed.

"I-I'm sorry, Hiccup… I really am… but please, calm down…" I spoke softly by his left ear.

When he ran out of breath, that's the moment when he finally stopped, and pulled me into a hug. Right away, I felt tears by my shoulder, as his face was buried in it. I made sure I poured every affection there was inside me for him in the moment by hugging him tighter.

"It's okay… shh…" I spoke softly. I closed my eyes for a brief moment, caressing his hair. It hurt me to see him like this. It pained me.

I opened my eyes, and let out a small gasp. Elsa was already here.

She was there by the door, telling the servants to leave the room quietly. It seemed that Gale had sent my message fairly fast. Once they left, she turned to me with a both puzzled and worried look. She mouthed, 'what happened?'

'A moment…' I mouthed back.

I kinda enjoy writing short chapters like this. Maybe I'll be posting short updates like this more in the future.