So sorry for the wait everyone. Life got super crazy and my muse went on vacation when this chapter was about halfway finished. Cancer diagnoses of my father in early December (prostate cancer. thankfully it hasn't spread and he is currently undergoing treatment) and the sudden downward spiral and death of my grandfather in early January just slaughtered my muse for months. Anyway, onto the chapter.

The Oncoming Storm

It was almost a week later that the ships returned. I had spent most of the time I wasn't asleep with Hiccup, helping him with the tasks that Gobber had left him to do since the blacksmith had gone with the others to the dragon nest. It was one of the afternoons that I was keeping him company that we began to hear shouts in the village about the boats being back.

Hiccup stopped working on sharpening an axe and glanced outside. I followed his gaze as several younger children ran by, followed by mothers yelling for them to slow down, though the women were smiling. Hiccup set down the axe, smiling. "Come on."

Together we joined the crowd heading down to the docks. I could not help but feel anxious. How many ships had returned? Was Halla on one of them? If she wasn't, what would happen to me? What would the village do without her? We walked down the wooden pathways that were attached to the cliff all that led down to the docks. Due to the crowd, we stopped at the tier above them and looked down. Two ships sat on the docks and both had sustained some damage.

The people on board the ships looked to be in slightly better shape for the most part. Most were covered in scrapes and bruises, though I did spot a few broken limbs. They were in makeshift slings, which had to be Halla's doing. I heard Hiccup sigh and glanced over at him. He was staring at someone down on the docks. I followed his gaze and spotted his father and Gobber. Ah, it was a sigh of relief. Both looked okay, just a couple scrapes.

I kept looking around in the crowd below for some sign of Halla. I swallowed and kept looking for her brown hair. She had to be okay. She was the village healer. They needed her, and so did I. Where else would I stay? She had taken me in from the get-go.

"Kendra," Hiccup said, setting a hand on my shoulder.

I looked over at him, beginning to panic. He nodded down at the docks. I followed his gaze and looked around desperately for a few seconds before I spotted her. She hopped off the second boat onto the dock. She had a few scrapes and a thin cut under her left eye, but otherwise she looked okay. I felt myself almost sag in relief. She was okay.

"Oh thank god," I muttered as I watched her turn and help someone else off the boat. The man had a bucket on his head. His hands were pressed against the sides of his head and appeared to be moaning in pain, even though I could not really see a scratch on him.

"Oh, no," I heard Hiccup mutter as he removed his hand from my shoulder.

I looked over at him, but he was staring down at bucket head. "What?"

"That's Bucket. He can tell when a storm is coming because the bucket on his head tightens," he explained. I looked back down at the docks. Another man hopped off the boat and took Bucket's arm and started leading him away. "And since he doesn't look good, it must be getting close."

"What happens when there's a storm?" I asked, watching as Halla helped more people off the boat.

"We secure our homes and just stay in the Hall until it's over," Hiccup replied. "It's all we can do."

I watched as Stoick walked over to Halla and the two began to talk. They talked for a minute before Stoick headed up the docks as Halla helped the last few people off the boat. She had just helped the last person off and slung her basket over her shoulder when heavy footsteps sounded on the walkway close to where Hiccup and I stood.

I turned and saw Stoick coming up the ramp toward us, Gobber right behind him. Hiccup was already turned toward him so all I saw was the back of his head. The two Vikings stopped before us. "Hiccup. Kendra."

"Dad," Hiccup said.

I nodded once. "Sir."

"I saw Bucket. There's a storm coming, isn't there?" Hiccup asked.

Stoick nodded. "Aye. I think it's why the dragons weren't as fierce in their attack."

"So that means we best start preparing for it," Gobber said, stepping up to stand beside Stoick. "Stall still in one piece?"

I stepped up beside Hiccup. "The place is fine. Pretty clean, actually," I said, glancing over at Hiccup. He looked over at me, the corners of his mouth turned upward.

"Ah, so ye helped him out again?" Gobber asked.

I nodded. "Yup."

He patted me on the shoulder with a laugh, which caused me to stumble into Hiccup. "Thank ye, lass."

"What is she being thanked for?" Halla asked as she appeared from behind Stoick and Gobber, looking between the blacksmith and me. She looked a little worse for wear, and exhausted, but otherwise she was okay.

I smiled at her. "I helped Hiccup at the stall."

Halla glanced over at him before her eyes returned to me. If she was going to say anything, she was cut off from doing so by Gobber. "Best start warning everyone of the storm."

Halla nodded. "Right. I'll need to restock some of my stores before it hits. Kendra, I'll need your help with that."

"Okay," I said, starting to follow after the healer as she turned to head up to the village. I glanced back at Hiccup and waved. "Later Hiccup."

Turns out what Halla needed to restock on was herbs, things that looked like just weeds to me. After returning to her house, she dropped off her ax, emptied her basket and filled it up again with pots and bowls from around the house. Then we left. We walked through the village, which had come to life with people preparing for the storm, across a bridge, past the dragon arena, and into the forest. By the time we hit the tree line, the wind had picked up and the temperature had dropped from comfortable to chilly.

I followed Halla through the forest, the woman glancing around for what she needed. After a minute, she seemed to spot it and stopped to crouch down, pulling the basket off her shoulder. I crouched down beside her as she pulled a pot out of the basket and pressed it into my hands, saying, "Hold this."

She pulled a knife from the basket and cut a branch from a plant before her and put it into the pot before going to cut another branch.

"Do you remember the name of this plant?" she asked me after a moment.

I thought back to the first time we had gone into the forest to restock her herbs, when she had pointed out so many plants to me with names I could hardly pronounce. I shook my head after a moment. "Sorry, no."

She looked at me for a second before turning back to the plant. After cutting off a few more pieces and putting them into the jar, she took the pot from my hands and put it back into the basket. "That should be enough," she muttered. She then stood and shouldered the basket once more.

"Okay, now I need…" she muttered under her breath and she turned away and continued on into the forest, walking quickly. I followed after her, almost running to catch up to her. By the time I reached her side, she had found another plant and knelt before it. She set the basket on the ground and pulled out another pot, which she shoved into my hands. She then pulled off a good number of the small leaves on the plant.

I sniffed as a scent reached my nose. "Is that mint?"

She paused her work and looked up at me, a small smile playing at her lips. "Well, at least you remembered one plant."

I returned the smile "Maybe there's hope for me yet."

She chuckled as she finished up gathering some of the mint before she put her things back into the basket and put it over her shoulder once more. We move a little further into the forest and Halla stopped at yet another planet I didn't recognize and began pulling off some leaves. Though after a minute she paused her work and glanced into the basket.

"What?" I asked.

She bit her lip for a moment in thought before nodding and bringing back out the pot of mint leaves, handing it over to me. "Go back and get a little more mint. People's nerves will be frayed due to the storm, so best have plenty on hand to help to calm them down. "

I nodded as I pushed myself up from where I had been crouching beside her, pot in hand. "Okay."

"Be careful," she called after me as I went back the way we had come, looking around for the mint plant. Just past a tree, I found the plant. I glanced back in the direction of Halla and could still see her, though she was a good ways away. I crouched down, set down the pot, and set about pulling off more leaves.

I had been pulling for leaves for a few minutes when I heard something from the direction that Halla was in. I paused my work and glanced back, but saw her still working on the plant that I had left her on. She hadn't moved. I shrugged before going back to work. I worked for a few more minutes before hoping that I had grabbed enough and moving to stand.

As I pushed myself to my feet, I heard something move in the direction of the village. Once on my feet, I looked over and spotted a large boar standing a few feet away, staring at me. I slowly bent down toward the pot, keeping my eyes on the boar, specifically its large tusks. I grabbed the pot and slowly straightened up.

"Nice Pumba," I said as I began to back up, keeping my eyes on the boar. I did not like the way that it was looking at me. What had I done, taken the mint leaves that he wanted?

SNAP!

A twig snapped beneath my foot. I glanced down and I heard the boar squeal and charge. I turned around and ran in the direction I had left Halla. I could hear the boar just behind me.

"Halla!" I yelled as I ran, just seconds before my foot collided with something and sent my flying forward, the pot disappearing from my hand. I hit the ground hard, all breath knocked from my lungs and felt a sharp pain in my right leg. I went to push myself up and saw two feet in front of me. I heard Halla throw something before the boar squealed in pain. A thump and then all was quiet.

I heard Halla move down toward my feet. "Don't move, Kendra. It got you good in the leg."

I pushed myself up onto my elbows but didn't move my legs. I could feel Halla's hands around where the pain was, and could feel the area around it becoming damp. I glance over my shoulder, though not for long since it was uncomfortable, but long enough to glimpse a bloody gash on my lower leg. My stomach churned as I turned away and could feel bile rising in my throat.

I took a deep breath and released it slowly as I listened to the sound of Halla moving down by my leg, trying to get rid of the urge to puke. It subsided, but my stomach still churned. I was fine with blood, had no problem watching those animal hospital shows and looking at the innards of a cat while eating dinner, but it was something else to see my own blood all over my leg.

I swallowed. "Where's the boar?"

"Dead," she replied. I heard fabric ripping before I felt pressure on the wound. "Threw my knife into its eye."

I let out a breathy laugh. "You must have damn good aim."

I felt something being wrapped around my leg. "That I do. Looks to be a female. It's possible she may have babies in the area and thought you were a threat to them."

"Oh," I muttered, looking down at the dirt beneath me. Okay, so Pumba was not Pumba but Pumbina, and probably a protective mother. Ow, my leg hurt.

"Okay. I've wrapped the wound, but I'll need to take care of it as soon as we get back to the village," I heard her say before her feet entered my line of sight. Then her hands came into view and she bent down to help me up. Her hands were covered in blood.

With a little difficulty, I was up and leaning heavily against her, her arm wrapped around me. A few feet away, the boar was dead and its eye was bleeding. I swallowed as we began to move past it in the direction of the village. This would probably take as long to heal as the wound on my head did. Though at least then I had been able to walk.

"This is the second time since I've been here that you'll be taking care of me," I commented as we moved slowly through the forest. "I seem to be injury prone here."

"I'm sure that will change over time," she comment as we walked, or rather hobbled along. I glanced at her, waiting for her to elaborate, but she never did.

By the time we got back to the village, it was after dark. Though even with the sun down, people were still moving about making preparations for the storm on the way. And now you could tell it was near. The winds were stronger and out over the ocean you could see the storm clouds gathering strength. A few villagers glanced at us as we moved toward Halla's house, but none stuck around. They simply ran off. But when we were almost to her house, two large figures approached us with a third smaller one moving behind them, the largest carrying a torch.

"Halla," Stoick called as we neared her front door. We stopped and waited for him to get closer. Following behind him was Gobber and Hiccup. His eyes went to my leg. "What happened?"

"Sent her alone to gather more mint. Boar attacked her," Halla explained. "Must have had her babies nearby."

He was silent for a moment. I glanced over at Hiccup, who was staring at my leg. "You get what you need. I'll take her up to the Hall. The storm will probably hit sometime in the night."

"Right," she said with a nod as she shifted me beside her. The next thing I knew, I was in the air, against the chest of Stoick. He had lifted me as easily as a rag doll. I glanced over at Halla, who nodded toward me. "I'll see you in the Hall, Kendra."

"Okay," I replied before she headed off into her house. Stoick then turned and started toward the Hall, Gobber and Hiccup following after him.

"Have you ever used a dagger, Kendra?" Stoick asked me as we reached the upper level of the village.

I shook my head and glanced up at him. He didn't look down at me. "No, sir."

"We'll have to see about changing that," I heard Gobber say from somewhere behind my head as Stoick reached the base of the stairs. I blinked rapidly. I suddenly felt very tired.

"Kendra," I heard Stoick say as I began to doze off. My head snapped up and I heard the doors to the Hall creak open. People had been talking but paused for a moment before asking what happened. "Hiccup, talk to her."

"Um, okay," I heard him say as I felt myself laid down upon a flat surface. I blinked up at the ceiling of the Hall high above me. That view was suddenly blocked as Hiccup looked down at me. "I've been thinking about ways to modify the net thrower."

"Oh?"His face was blurry. I could see his mouth moving, but all I heard was noise. None of it made any sense. My leg hurt and all I wanted to do was sleep.

And then Hiccup was gone, replaced by Halla. She placed her hands on my face as she looked down at me.

"Kendra, I need to sew up the wound. Bite down on this," she said before putting something in my mouth before I could even try to say something. Halla then disappeared and I was left looking at the ceiling again.

Then sharp pain came from my leg. Something piercing the skin and a painful tug. I screamed. It paused for a moment before starting again. I felt someone grab my hand before everything went dark.