Hiccup's POV
"I sure do miss the flights… it's one of those things that I always look forward to whenever a shipment from Berk arrives. Though, yes, it disappointed me several times that you sometimes were not present with the shipment…" Anna explained nonchalantly, then noticed that she did it nonchalantly in the next moment.
"Did I just say that out loud?" Her cheeks reddened a little.
"You're saying that you miss me? Or just Toothless?" I smirked challengingly. She proceeded to laugh it off.
"Both," she smirked. "A real shame that all dragons are now off to the Edge of the World… how far is it from New Berk? How does it look like?"
I fixed my sitting position on the couch, as if I was her father about to tell his story about how he had it in the past. "Well… it's… several hours of flight away from New Berk. If we were to travel by boat, it would probably take a week or more. It's sat on the east of New Berk. As father explained, no sailors had ever returned to tell the tale of how the place even looks like, and once I arrived there on Toothless, I could see why; the entrance of the place was one giant circular hole on the ocean, seawater pouring down into it. Of course, no ships ever made it back; they were pulled by the torrential current!"
She gasped, added with her widened eyes, Anna was so into my story right now.
"When I descended into the entrance, it was magical. Materials that no man has ever seen, lights illuminating from everywhere, I can't even explain; it was magical, the perfect haven for the dragons."
"Wow…" she breathed.
"I'm sorry, I didn't really explain much, did I?" I chuckled uneasily.
"I too sometimes find it hard to describe things, especially when I'm in awe," she shook it off. "You've never… tried to visit it after a few years?"
I shook my head. "Nope. But perhaps one day."
"Take me? And Elsa? And Olaf?"
I looked at her to determine just how serious she was, and she completely seemed so. Her eyes screamed curiosity that one could barely satisfy. "… Sure."
The queen punched the air. "Yes!"
I looked away with a smile, stopping my rolling eyes onto that very pile of paperwork that we had just done nonstop.
"Hey…" Anna called. I turned to her, and she was looking at the same pile of paper as well. "Thanks for helping me out with those… paperwork. Never knew you were pretty good at it, no offense."
"I never knew as well," I shrugged. "I mean, same concept, you run a land of people, you choose what's best for your people like any other leaders do… Though in Berk, maybe we're… less organized?"
"Berk looked very magnificent for something that is 'less organized' than Arendelle," Anna commented. The comment made me scratch my hair sheepishly, turning my sight to the window on my right. Oh, sunset.
"Can't believe how time flies—"
The door of the office abruptly opened by itself, revealing former queen of Arendelle herself. "Anna, I'm sorry, I was stuck with some—"
Elsa stopped in the middle of her sentence when she laid her eyes onto the finished pile of paperwork on the table. She was taken aback for a moment, mouth gaping widely.
"You finished all of it?" She walked in, "without me?"
"With the help from Hiccup," Anna gestured at me. "He helped me a lot. He's pretty good with the papers, it turns out."
"I did," I confessed.
Elsa's bottom lip stuck out, giving a seal of approval with her expression that said 'not bad'. "That's… amazing."
I crossed my legs, straightening my back, wanting to propose an idea. "I'll be Anna's assistant for now, it's my turn now."
Hearing the idea, Elsa placed her hands on her hips, looking a bit unsure with it. "You sure, Hicc? I seriously don't mind leaving Northuldra for a longer while," she approached me.
"Being the fifth spirit sounds like a heavy job that you can't really leave," I said, shrugging. "I mean, whatever it is that you do," I slipped out a snort. Anna couldn't help but to slip one as well. Seeing the two of us behaving as so, Elsa crossed her arms.
"Haha, jokes aside," I stood up to express my seriousness and cleared my throat. "It's the least that I can do. Let me help."
The fifth spirit judged me for a second. Being judged by Elsa was not the best feeling to date.
"Okay, Hiccup. I mean," she gestured at the table where the paperwork was. "It's pretty self-evident that you're good with the papers. Or even, better than Anna," she gave a dirty look to her sister.
"Hey!"
Elsa snapped a finger out of the blue, and the ice plating on my arms disappeared into the thin air. I shoved my hands together generate some warmth.
"Thanks… It was really unbearable… the cold…" I admitted. Her eyes widened, as if she never realized that ice is cold.
"I forgot about that, sorry. Well," she gave a hand to her sister, gesturing her to stand up. After doing as so, Elsa gave us a big hug, which we returned warmly. She moved about while tightening the hug, toying the hug around.
"Off to Northuldra I go," she let go. "Take care, alright?"
"We will," Anna and I replied in unison.
"Awwhhh—" the big sis pulled us for another hug which we could only laugh at. "I'm gonna find Olaf now before leaving, kay?"
With that, she left the two of us alone. We merely stared at the door for a brief moment, not knowing of what to do. But then I remembered something.
"Erhm, Anna," I called. "It's about to be late, I'll take you to the dining room, and I'll be off, okay?"
"Off to where?" She raised a brow.
"Off… to home. My room, in the village."
She sighed deeply, "Hiccup, you can stay here—"
"I can't, okay? Nothing can change that, at least not anytime soon."
She crossed her arms in annoyance, "Why are you so persistent? Gee."
I shrugged. "I'm a Viking," I nudged her side a little.
She pondered for a moment, looking like she was judging me. Being judged by either Elsa or Anna was never a good feeling.
"… Can I still trust you?"
"… On what?"
"Don't act like you do not know, Hiccup…" She gently took my hand and placed a finger on my right wrist, which was wrapped with a patch. Her eyes rolled up to mine. I soon understood what she meant.
"I will come back to the castle tomorrow, and the day after that, and so on. If I don't one day, you may send a search party and we'll play hide and seek."
"HICCUP!"
I froze a little at it. "I-I'm joking! I will go here to help you with your work."
"You'd better do," she warned me with a finger.
Fifteen days later.
Anna's recovery has been speedy, and it was the most relieving thing to see. Seeing her getting more and more bubbly each day really gave me something to live for, a reason to keep on living… other than the fact that I was in debt for her, since she had given me her blood. I guess, I would not like to leave off life with an unpaid debt until it is paid.
The thought of suicide was still there in my mind, but its frequency was not as horrible compared in the early days. I still missed my people, my family, my friends, and nothing could ever replace them. However, Anna's bubbliness had kept my chin up most of the times. Even at times when I was randomly looking at the window to the fjord, pondering of Berk, she knew that my mind was thinking of the past. How? Nobody knew. All I knew was that she would at least lay a hand on my shoulder to rub it, emphasizing the message that it would be alright.
Tonight, I finished the same work as always. I went home to my usual inn, the Olsen's. I grew fond with Lady Olsen, although I scared her dear life when I attempted to commit suicide in her inn. As always, she greeted me from the counter when I arrived and asked me if I had dinner or not. Not that she would give me any food whatsoever though.
I walked into my room and sat on the bed. For some reason, I was not so tired. Usually, the walk from the castle would tire me the most, and my mind would drive me to sleep right away. But tonight was different.
I looked to the window that gave a view to the fjord. It's always the mesmerizing view, the fjord.
"Maybe I ought to give it a closer look," I spoke to myself.
Commanded by none other than myself, I went out of the inn and walked my way to the dock. It was not the shortest walk, per se. During day, I would take one of the royalty horses to go to places in the village, but they were not my horses. So, once I came home, I only had one leg to travel around with.
The dock was lonely, almost dead. No one was seen in the area, only ships and boats parked. However, the silence was lovely; full moon, a sea of stars, and the sound of the waves gently washing against the dock. Peace was defined in the moment.
I walked my way to the closest point I could get to the fjord on the dock. At the end of the walkway, I sat on the edge and feasted these eyes with mother nature's masterpiece.
It never lasted as long as I expected, as I heard a horse behind me from a distance.
Anna?
"Anna? What are you doing in here?" I asked. She got off Molly, holding what seemed to be… oh, my notebook.
"You left your notebook in the office, Hiccup," she gently smiled, approaching me. The queen sat right next to me and gave me the object.
"I would've just grabbed it again tomorrow, you know. I regularly visit the castle to work," I placed the notebook away. She smiled cheekily.
"Thought it was a valuable possession of yours," she excused. "And… I just wanted to see you. We were so busy with the papers, we barely talked about anything else."
I scoffed at her. "Right. How did you know I was here?"
"Lady Olsen told me."
"Ah, yeah, of course."
"What are you doing in here, mister? Shouldn't you be sleeping right now?" Anna asked with a playful tone.
"I wasn't sleepy yet. And the fjord is beautiful tonight."
She looked at the view, "… it is."
We remained silent for a moment, doing nothing but enjoying the view. Once again, the silence was broken by Anna who cleared her throat.
"Hiccup, I think this is the right moment to tell you this…" she placed one leg on the dock to face me. Her serious expression earned my curiosity right away. I shifted to her, opening all ears.
"While you were out, we int—"
A flapping noise sounded from afar. I focused my hearing on it.
I raised a finger to halt the queen, "Anna, sorry. Listen."
Needless to say, that she wondered why I halted her, but then, her expression changed as she heard the same flapping noise. We both turned to every direction to find the source of the noise and stopped when we looked at the full moon up above. A tiny shadow was spotted flying. It had wings, a snake-like body, and had four legs.
Could it be?
"BLUE!" I called and whistled to gain its attention. After a few attempts, the shadow slowly became bigger and bigger, signing the arrival of it.
Soon, it landed right in front of us. It was indeed, Blue the messenger Terrible Terror!
"Blue!" Anna and I spoke in unison.
