A/N: It's getting close to the holidays!
•0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙
"What do we do now? We're stuck here! Maybe Stormfly left to get something, she'll be back. I'm sure of it. Yeah. She just went to check something out on the island and then she'll return. I mean- come on. It's not like she went off an abandoned us here! Stormfly doesn't do stuff like that! Right? Stormfly doesn't do stuff like that, right Ludi?"
Ludi started as she heard her name, snapping out of her doze as she blinked rapidly up at Hiccup. The boy had been pacing and mumbling to himself for over an hour, glancing over at the spot where Stormfly had once been. The kitten had been as surprised as Hiccup had been when they came back to see the dragon gone. For a while, she joined in his worried state, but after a few minutes she decided to go ahead and eat her rabbit that she caught. Then she lied down, and she just got tired from watching Hiccup pace back and forth.
Nevertheless, she let out a small mew to show that she was listening, straightening as she shook herself out of her small daze. With a flick of her ears, Ludi turned around to look up at the sky. The sun had been long gone by now, and the moon was now fully up in the sky, shedding its cold light across the island. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, although it did little to keep Ludi awake. The dull light was making her sleepy, and she wondered how in the world Hiccup could be so awake right now. Even if the dragon had been gone.
Hiccup let out a small sigh, stopping for what seemed like the first time in forever. His shoulders slumped, and he raised his head to look over his shoulder at the line of trees. He seemed to be thinking hard, and Ludi let out a small trill after a while, to show that she was still there. Hiccup blew out his cheeks, slouching visibly before he turned back to her. "We might as well wait for morning, like I said before."
Ludi blinked, jumping down from the rock she was sitting on and landing on the ground quietly. Tail high in the air, she bounded forward, gathering under herself and springing forward to pounce on the bag that was filled with blankets. It was a rather large bag, and it was soft and cushiony to the touch. Her eyes gleamed and she started to bounce back and forth on the soft fabric.
Hiccup made a noise of frustration, leaning down and picking her up by the scruff. Rather than curling up on instinct like she did when she was kitten, she let out an earsplitting yowl, trying to wriggle and worm her way out from his grasp. "Sorry! Sorry!" He said quickly, jumping as he fixed his arms to hold her correctly. Ludi threw him a withering look, and he flashed her an apologetic smile before he leaned down and opened up the bag wide.
Taking out the blankets carefully, he arranged them neatly on the grass. Ludi was the first to land on the bed, and she immediately purred loudly, settling down and curling up into a small ball. She looked tired and exhausted, ready for sleep as she tucked her nose under her paw. Hiccup gave her a warm smile, settling down carefully around her. Leaning over, he grabbed the other blanket and tucked it around both himself and Ludi.
The cat shuffled to the side, pressing against Hiccup as she closed her eyes contentedly. Leaning on the palm of his hand, Hiccup looked down at the silver fluff ball with a smile. He reached over and scratched her head gently, earning a large purr from the cat. She wasn't the little kitten that Hiccup had gotten so long ago, she was getting bigger every day and soon Hiccup wouldn't be able to keep her on his shoulder.
The thought made a strike of sadness to shake him. He hadn't even wanted this cat when he had first gotten her, but now the very thought of her getting too big for him made him want to hold her tightly now. Which he couldn't do of course. Not unless he wanted a large scratch across his forehead. But still, the image of the small scrap of fur he had first seen etched in his mind as he looked down at Ludi warmly. "You're a handful, you know that?" He asked softly, dropping his hand and settling down to lie beside the cat.
Ludi flicked her tail crossly in an answer, a soft chuckle finding its way from Hiccup.
Eyes narrowing slightly, the boy looked over once more to the line of trees. Despite himself, a twinge on nervousness started in his stomach, making him cringe. The dragons he had seen seemed to be cross at finding him here, and he wondered how many others were here too. If there were any others. Would Toothless be one of those others? It could be possible…but Hiccup didn't know whether or not he would be jumping into something that didn't even mean anything. If Toothless was here, he might stand a chance. But his luck said something else, making him frown.
Eyeing Ludi's curled-up form, he decided he would just have to wing it like Astrid. If she could do it, than so could he. After all, most of what he did while battling the Red Death had been him winging it. He wouldn't ever tell Toothless that though. "When I find him, I wont tell him." Hiccup corrected himself aloud. Ludi stirred at the sound of his voice, but didn't look up. Her eyes fluttered slightly, she still remained closed. After a while, the sound of soft snoring started to rise from her sleeping form.
Glancing over one last time at the mountain in the distance, Hiccup finally pushed down the anxiousness in his stomach and forced himself to slow his breathing, closing his eyes tightly as he slung one hand over Ludi comfortingly. Slowing his breath, he tried to relax and push away any other worries he had cramped into his head. He had to admit, now he realized how tired he had been before. Knowing that fact, he slipped quicker into unconsciousness, glad of the distraction from all of the worry and drama that had taken hold of his life these past four weeks.
It was quite a relief from everything else. Just him and Ludi, curled up together in the shadow of a few trees.
•0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙
The sun came up sooner than Hiccup could think. His eyes opened blearily against the sharp light, and he scowled deeply. Reaching up, he rubbed his eyes clear roughly, grumbling as he did so. Pushing himself up slowly, he grimaced as he looked around at the unfamiliar land around him. For a moment, he forgot where he was, blinking as he looked around with a puzzled expression. But then realization slammed into him, and he started as intelligence flooded back into his eyes.
Noticing something that was missing, Hiccup looked around wildly, heart hammering against his chest. "Ludi?" He called, the small ball of fluff having gone amiss from the scene. "Ludi where did you go?" He started to panic, and he threw the covers off of him rapidly, standing up shakily as he started to search the small clearing with haste, shaking as he did so. "Ludi! Ludi, where are you!" He raised his voice against himself, thoughts not even flashing to whether or not the dragons would hear him and start running for him. All he wanted was to find the small cat before anything could happen. The thought of something bad happening to her made him search faster, grabbing the blankets and throwing them in the air, opening each and every bag that was scattered around. "LUDI!"
A small meow made him spin around, eyes wide with fear and worry. Ludi sat on the ground neatly, head tilted to the side as she looked at Hiccup like he was stupid. By her feet, were two large rabbits, freshly killed with what looked like it to be a neat slice. The cat eyed him cautiously for a moment or two, surveying the messed up camping spot for a moment before she nudged one of the rabbits over to Hiccup with pride shining in her eyes.
Hiccup stood tensely for a long time, deadpanning at the cat as he saw the wrecked place out of the corner of his eye. Silence followed the scene, Ludi looking up happily at Hiccup where she sat, and Hiccup glaring down at the small cat that seemed to know each and every way to get under his skin. "…Alright." Hiccup sighed, sitting down and looking down at the rabbit that was now breakfast.
Ludi settled down and started to reach down to eat her catch, but Hiccup leaned forward quickly, snatching the food away from her before she could do anything. Ludi let out a sharp meow of protest, glaring up at him hotly. But Hiccup paid no mind, putting the two rabbits together as he stood up. "I'm going to cook them, so that it might not be as disgusting." Ludi shot him another look as he went to find sticks for the fire, but didn't make a move to go over to her food anymore.
It took a total of twenty minutes for Hiccup to start the fire, and even longer to skin the rabbit and cook it. All the while, Ludi sat over to the side like a vulture, glaring at him menacingly as he went about his business. Hiccup did his best to ignore her, and by the time the food was done and cooked (to the best of his ability) he more or less threw the rabbit over at Ludi. He didn't look back, but he could feel another glare thrown at him from the cat before she started to eat.
Hiccup had never actually eaten rabbit before, he mostly ate fish and deer and along the lines of that. That was why he was so surprised that it actually tasted pretty good. Although it was small. The rabbit was gone in an instant it seemed, but it took off the edge of his hunger, and he stood up at once, looking over at the mountain with a large sigh. Now or never he guessed.
Ludi finished her meal soon after him, getting up and jumping up to his shoulder like she usually did. Hiccup was about to walk forward, but hesitated, throwing a look over his shoulder at the discarded bags. Leaning down, he picked up one of the larger ones, looking back at Ludi as he did so. "Get in." He said, Ludi immediately wrinkling her nose up in response. "Come on, it's a cave. You aren't going to be able to stay on my shoulder, and I would like it if you would stay with me for this one. Hopefully it wont be for long, and you'll be able to get out soon. If Stormfly was still here, you might have just stayed here with her." He added as an afterthought. "Just get in, and I promise that when we get home you can share my food for a week."
Ludi paused for a moment, almost like she was weighing her options. It seemed like an eternity before she finally gave in, bunching her muscles under herself and jumping down into the bag neatly. Pushing herself up, she stood shakily on her hind legs, pushing her paws out to hold onto the edge of the bag as she stuck her head out, blinking her cuteness meter stare up at Hiccup.
Snorting, Hiccup slung the bag over his shoulder carefully so that Ludi was facing the right way. Taking one more glance over the still-messed-up clearing, he turned around and squeezed his way out of the tree line and appeared on the moor once more. Taking a moment to remember the way he had gone, he turned and retraced his steps back to where the mountain caved in to a tunnel. That was the best he could do now.
"Okay, Ludi." Hiccup said, his voice dropping to a whisper as he stood in front of the entrance. The cave looked dark and damp, a cold air reaching Hiccup as he shivered slightly. "We have to be quiet now, okay? Can you do that?" The response was a small shifting noise as Ludi shuffled around in her bag. She seemed to be clearly displeased with the small space, but willing to go along as usual.
Blowing out slowly, Hiccup's hands balled into fists at his sides, and he slowly narrowed his eyes. "I can do this." He whispered to himself, closing his eyes tightly. Heat rushed over him as he thought he heard a low growl from inside the dark area. He didn't do dark areas. Or growling noises coming from inside that dark area. Those were two very different things and should never be associated with each other. It only meant trouble.
Legs seeming to act on their own, Hiccup edged forward, getting closer to the cave little by little. He felt something stir behind him, and he realized that Ludi was shaking. She let out a small, almost inaudible mew of distress, and Hiccup reached back to give her head a small pat of reassurance. He thought of Toothless, and knew that in this situation, if it were him that was in trouble instead of the dragon, Toothless would be charging into the cave without a second thought.
Of course, Toothless could breathe fire.
He shook himself. That didn't matter. It was the thought that counted, and he took in another sharp breath as he started to quicken his pace. He was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, and he had been the one to defeat the Red Death. With Toothless beside him. SHUT UP. Hiccup hit the side of his head that the thought came from, shaking himself as he narrowed his eyes. Ludi was jarred from all of the movement, wishing that she could be on Hiccup's shoulder instead of in a bag tied to his back.
Steps becoming bigger as time went on Hiccup stepped into the cave and started forward, the darkness swallowing his shape up in mere seconds.
•0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙
A/N: Have a holly jolly Christmas!