Night clawed its way over the sky like it was crippled. Hiccup watched carefully from the edge of the tree, green eyes calculating as he kept track of the sun's progress through the sky. The others were doing their best to pass the time around him, but he could feel their gazes switch over to him anxiously every so often, waiting for him to tell them when they would get to leave. The question went unvoiced, of course, but it burned on everyone's tongue as they shuffled anxiously. They were nervous hiding out like they were, and they were on-edge to take their departure. But they all remained silent, simply waiting for Hiccup to call the shots.

But it was almost time to take leave, Hiccup realized. The chilly air of night was slowly nipping at the boy's nose, a slight shiver traveling up his spine at the thought of the colder air that was surely following it. Twilight had settled over the horizon like a blanket, and a few of the first stars were appearing in the sky overhead. Hiccup's attention was side-tracked as he turned over to Mistyeyes, the gray dragon's eyes fixed intently on the first few appearing twinkles. Her ears flicked back and forth irritably, eyes boring into the stars with a fixated expression. Astrid giggled softly where she sat next to Hiccup, leaning over and bumping her side against his playfully. "I think she's making a wish." She teased lightly, eyes glimmering at the joke.

Hiccup gave a laugh, rolling his eyes as he turned back to look at her. "I think we'll all need one with what we plan on doing." He commented, dousing the playful feeling around them and creating a little wall of tension once more. Astrid sighed softly, tilting her head to the side and looking at him closely. Hiccup shuffled underneath her look, trying to maintain eye contact as best he could. He didn't like it when Astrid looked at him like that; sometimes the girl knew more about himself than he did sometimes just by looking at him in that strange way. Call him crazy, but Hiccup didn't like that fact.

"Yeah, but I'm sure it'll be alright." Astrid assured him, swiveling around slightly and leaning down, peering outside through the thick of the branches. She looked out across the wide ocean that stretched out in front of them. The dimming sunlight cast light red and pinks and purples to cascade over the water, and Hiccup had to admit that it took a little of the edge off the situation. Not a lot of things about Berk were considered very 'charming,' much less 'beautiful.' But sometimes, when the sun caught the water out there just right, it looked pretty okay. Slouching forward a little, Astrid turned around and rested her head limply against her knees. Her azure eyes flickered over to Hiccup, and she gave another small laugh. "Hey." She said suddenly.

"Hmm?" Hiccup hummed, leaning over and plucking up a stray pine needle from the ground. He rolled it with a small hint of boredom between his thumb and forefinger, watching it twirl as he kept an ear out for any footsteps outside or the beating wings of dragons. It wasn't necessarily boring to be keeping an eye out for things for so long, it was quiet the opposite, actually. It was very nerve-wracking. But after being cooped up for what seemed like a million hours inside a tree that also housed almost four full-grown dragons, along with a handful of other people, it could start to get to you. Hiccup's back was stiff and aching, his legs tensed and ready to run as pent-up energy coursed through him. But he forced himself to remain sitting, squirming slightly as he let out a mumble of irritation.

Astrid seemed to share his thoughts, eager to erase them as she continued to talk. "Remember that one Snoggletog?" She asked, humor alive in her voice as she watched his reaction. When he had none, she pressed: "I think we were…seven or eight? The one where your father tried to get you to go hunting with him during the party we threw?"

Hiccup immediately started to laugh, shaking his head back and forth already. His body language did a whole turnaround, the boy's shoulders and posture loosening at once as he relaxed visibly. Astrid watched the changes with a small hint of relief; Hiccup was too worried over everything. Granted, he should be. This could go all wrong and backfire horribly on them. But it pained her to see him so miserable. "Of course I do." He said, snapping her out of her thoughts. "He made a big show of getting everything together during the party, and then saying goodbye to everyone on the way out."

"What'd he say?" Astrid prompted. "'When we come back, we'll have a whole feast?' Didn't he say something like that?"

"Food to last weeks." Hiccup corrected her. "Everyone was so excited."

"And then you two came back about an hour later." Astrid giggled. "You were crying about a splinter that got caught in your finger. Stoick looked so embarrassed." Hiccup flushed bright red at the memory, but his shoulders still shook with held-in laughter as the blonde went on. "And then you tried to make up for it by going out again by yourself. That didn't really help matters much when the entire party had to stop to go out and look for you."

"Yeah…" Hiccup's smiled faded somewhat, shoulders drooping lower as he studied the ground. "That was a long time ago." He stated softly, looking a little disconnected by now as he looked down. Astrid bit her lower lip, reaching out to try and comfort him. But Hiccup forced himself upright after a moment's pause, becoming cheerful once again as he gave another crooked smile. "Things are a lot different now, huh?" He asked, the grin not reaching his eyes as he studied her expression.

The girl shrugged. "I dunno. You're still pretty scatterbrained." She commented, earning a more genuine smile from Hiccup at the statement. "I mean- we've got a pretty big splinter in our sides right now. And we're running away. So I'm not really sure that you've changed all that much. You're just sharing your boat, now that you've got us along for the ride." She leaned against Hiccup again as she said this, the boy being bumped to the left as he staggered. "But, you know, this situation is more complicated." She stressed suddenly. "So I'm glad that we have a very detailed plan to go off of when dealing with such a tense ordeal." The words were meant to be a joke just the same as the others, but Hiccup only looked at her awkwardly, a little put-out at the tease. Astrid straightened dramatically, raising an eyebrow at him skeptically. "Please tell me you have a very detailed plan that we can go off of when dealing with such a tense ordeal." She pleaded flatly.

The others seemed to catch onto their conversation at this moment. Mistyeyes tore her eyes away from the sky as she turned and fixed her eyes onto the boy's thin frame just as intently as she had the star. Toothless looked up from entertaining Shadowclaw and Ludi, all three pairs of eyes went to train themselves on him. Nightflight had been curled off to the side, secluded as ever. She perked a little at their words, but it looked like she had been paying close attention in the first place, her ears firmly set backwards as she strained to listen in on their conversation. All eyes went back to him, and Hiccup found his expression just becoming more and more awkward.

"I mean…" He blanched for a moment, drawing an uncomfortable pause as he stared back at them oddly. Astrid opened her mouth to offer some help, but Hiccup steeled himself, pushing himself up to his feet and putting his hands on his hips. "It's just like we said before." He repeated, voice much more confident than it had been a moment earlier in time. Toothless's ears pricked upwards as he recognized the change, offering the boy a sloppy smile. "We're going to go to Night Fury Island. Shadowclaw and Mistyeyes can lead the way back there." Mistyeyes looked a little stricken at this fact, as if she wasn't sure at all if she knew the way back her home. But Shadowclaw puffed up importantly, looking more than sure of his capabilities in getting back there. After all, he'd flown there and back only a few short weeks ago.

Hiccup started to talk with his hands, like he always did when he was nervous, or talking to a lot of people. He pointed over to Toothless for a moment, then over to Nightflight. "Toothless and I will make sure to flank Astrid and Nightflight carefully, in case they need help in flying." He gestured lamely back to Astrid, who bristled at the notion that she wouldn't be able to fly the dragon properly. But he ignored her rudely, going on like she didn't shoot him a look full of daggers. "We'll try to make it there as soon as possible," He went on. "and then when we get there, we'll send the dragons in first. Me and Astrid will hide out somewhere; that way we can be safe if the dragons take it the wrong way. But if they want to hear you all out, then you can bring a few over to us, and then I'll tell them more about it."

"You'll tell them more about it?" Astrid repeated, blinking suspiciously over at her Viking. She raised an eyebrow, and Hiccup reached up, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as she eyed him. When he didn't reply, she pressed harder, the dragons around her getting the message as they started to back away. "What do you mean?" She questioned. "You make it sound like they'll be able to-"

"You've talked to Stormfly before, haven't you?" Hiccup demanded a little too hastily.

Astrid's limbs locked up together at the mention of her dragon, eyes becoming a little sharper at the words. Hiccup immediately regretted it, clamping his mouth shut tightly as his eyes rounded with guilt. Nightflight let out a small coo, the same kind of expression coming over her own face. But Astrid got over it as best she could, leaping around the obstacle as she shook her head roughly. "I mean you make it sound like you expect a response." She corrected herself, voice a little bit more bitter at this. But before Hiccup could try and find another excuse, she cut him off quickly.

"You're keeping something from me." She said, sounding just like she had back before she first found Toothless in the cove. Her voice took on that dangerous kind of dip to it, and Hiccup swallowed a little uncomfortably at the hint of anger thinly hidden underneath the surface. "You're keeping something from me, and I don't appreciate it too much. You've been avoiding weird situations and dodging bullets that I throw at you." Hiccup didn't reply. "Well?" She demanded. "Are you going to explain anything to me?"

"…It's complicated." Hiccup mumbled defensively. Nightflight's ears slicked back to her head sadly.

"Well, I'm not doing anything else until you tell me." Astrid said simply, turning and sitting down firmly on the ground. Hiccup looked at her, exasperated. What an adult would do to a child if they were throwing a tantrum. But Astrid only replied by crossing her arms firmly over her chest, turning and sticking her nose up into the air pointedly. Fighting the urge to slap himself in the face, Hiccup glanced over at the dragons, as if asking for help. But they offered no companionship, merely looking back at him timidly. Groaning underneath his breath, he turned back to Astrid, leaning down and crouching beside her.

He wobbled a bit unsteadily on his legs, but he didn't fall over. Astrid glanced over at him, raising her eyebrows expectantly as she met his gaze. Sighing through his nose, Hiccup started out a little uncomfortably, gripping his knees tightly as he tried to find the words. "You know…how I was acting weird right before I left the island?" He asked. "The time right before all the Night Furies started to attack the island?" The memory flashed behind Astrid's eyes, and she gave a silent nod. "Well, I was acting weird for a reason. I'd met Nightflight before that…in the woods. When she was still on the…wrong side." Pauses and stumbles littered his voice, and he winced inwardly.

"Yeah." Astrid said simply. "Why didn't you tell anybody that you met her?"

"Because something weird happened." Hiccup answered hastily. "She did that thing with her eyes, you know?" Astrid's eyes flickered over to the Night Fury, a little put-off by now at the way that the explanation was going. But she nodded nonetheless, giving a small shrug at the same time. Hiccup puffed out his cheeks for a moment, prickles of impatience crawling up his spine. The sun had sunken past the horizon almost all the way now; if they were going to leave soon, they had to get it all situated before they went. It might take a while. And Hiccup didn't know where or what his father was doing, he'd rather not learn the fact the hard way. "And it kinda went a little wrong."

"…meaning…?"

"I can…" Hiccup blinked rapidly, grimacing painfully as he tried to find a way to explain. Mistyeyes was up to her feet by now, coming closer with a look that said she would have liked to help the boy. But she couldn't really do that, unless Astrid were to suddenly understand them as well. Which would be a preferred solution of course; it would be much easier if she were to understand the ordeal firsthand. Not to mention the fact that she would be able to pick up on things a lot easier if she were understand the reptiles. But Nightflight had expressed her situation before; she had made a mistake when causing Hiccup to understand dragons. She hadn't meant for it to happen, and wasn't sure how to replicate the actions she had done to accidentally lead up to it. They could try, but it might cause a lot more harm than good in the long run.

"Hiccup, you can tell me anything, I'll understand." Astrid offered, looking at him with more concern by now.

"I can kind of…understand what the dragon are saying…" Hiccup mumbled finally, a wince plastered on his face as he waited for her reaction. Astrid straightened significantly at this, blinking rapidly with surprise. Her hands opened and closed in her lap, and Hiccup guessed that she hadn't been expecting anything along the lines of what he had just said. She'd probably been expecting something like a mental hurdle he had now, or maybe some part of his body now weakened. Nothing like this. The surprise and shock was written on her face, and Hiccup had to fight to not groan aloud at the reaction. He scared her! This wasn't going any way like he planned.

But then suddenly the girl's expression changed, a ghost of a smile hinting on her lips. "You can understand them?" She questioned, suppressed laughter hidden in her voice. Hiccup stiffened at the new change, mouth snapping open at once to try and defend himself. The girl clapped her hand over her mouth at once as she realized that she had struck a nerve with that one, blue eyes alight with a certain kind of mischief as she studied him. Her shoulders shook a little up and down, and she spoke around her palm as best she could. "That's new." She giggled softly.

"Astrid." Hiccup said, rather patiently. "I'm being serious."

"You are? I hadn't noticed." Astrid said, voice a little muffled. "It's just that I wasn't expecting something so…creative." She offered the last word, doubling over with laughter as Hiccup's eye twitched at it. "I'm sorry." She snorted, not sounding sorry at all her shoulders shook up and down. Toothless and Mistyeyes exchanged a small look, Shadowclaw joining in Astrid's lead as he laughed with amusement. Nightflight looked almost offended, though, looking as though she wanted to smack the girl upside the head and not give a care about her actions.

"Astrid." Hiccup said, voice adopting a much more whiny tone.

The blonde kept on laughing, unable to reply for the moment in time as she leaned forward.

Hiccup drew himself up angrily, pushing his tongue into his cheek with irritation. "I can show you." He warned, already starting to stand up. Astrid's laughter paused a heartbeat as she watched him stand, and though she didn't reply, her blue eyes said it all. 'I'd love to see you try.' Fisting his hands tightly at his sides, Hiccup turned back to the dragons, pointing at each one of them with a quick rush as they all straightened. "You all start talking! All at once." He ordered. Astrid's expression slowly melted little by little to be replaced with confusion. But she stood up nonetheless, a small smile still wormed on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest for the second time.

She leaned back, cocking an eyebrow and waiting.

Mistyeyes blinked, being the first to speak up. "He's telling the truth." She offered weakly.

But that seemed to be the perfect kind of sentence for Hiccup. The boy pointed at her dramatically, turning around and giving Astrid a look that said: 'I told you so, woman.' "'He's telling the truth.'" He translated fixedly, speaking up right after Mistyeyes and not even giving himself a moment to think it through before he relayed it back to the blonde. She stared back at him unflinchingly, still looking unimpressed at this. Toothless was the one to talk next, rolling his eyes with a slight flash of irritation in his green orbs.

"She's not going to believe you, we might as well just go. We're burning nightlight."

Hiccup shot the words back over to Astrid, and the girl turned, looking a little cross as she stared over pointedly to the dragon. But all he did was give her a little shrug in return, not looking very apologetic at all. Mistyeyes chirped where she stood, tail lashing back and forth: "Calm down, Toothless." She said, Hiccup already repeating her words as she spoke them. "We still have a long time left to go, the moon just came up a short while ago. We have to make sure that Astrid is ready before we do anything. She'll be the one guiding Nightflight, after all."

Astrid changed her arms so that they rested on her hips. The laughter was slowly dripping away from her face, changing into that of a serious kind of manner that only the blonde could have. She looked from Toothless, over to Mistyeyes, blinking slowly as she tried to wrap her mind around what was going on carefully, trying to make herself see sense through it. But it seemed like her common sense was starting to win over her as the semi-impressed look wavered off of her face. Toothless sighed dejectedly at the look on her face, and Mistyeyes's ears flattened with a sad frown. Nightflight's ears flicked back and forth, sensing the silence as a sign that it wasn't working.

"Oh! OH!" Shadowclaw suddenly shouted, turning in a tight circle as his wings flapped excitedly at his sides. Ludi mewed happily at the sudden change in attitude, bouncing from one paw to another as she starting to jump up and down. "Talk while I'm talking! Say the words I'm saying right now~!" Hiccup repeated the words, fumbling slightly as he tried to talk and listen in at the same time. Astrid blinked, hands slipping down to her sides as she tilted her head slightly, looking a little confused as concentration filled Hiccup's face.

If he was pulling a joke, he was pretty good at faking it.

Hiccup raised a hand up to press against his temple, a new crease appearing on his forehead as Shadowclaw started to babble excitedly. He tried to keep up with the youngling's words as he spoke them, fumbling clumsily with his words as he always did when he was put on the spot. Speaking in just as big a rush as Shadowclaw did, Hiccup translated as fast as he could. "'I'm gonna…do a jump.'" Hiccup said, watching with surprise as Shadowclaw launched himself into the air as soon as he stopped talking, maybe even a heartbeat before. Realizing what the littler dragon was up to, Hiccup regained a little of his confidence, talking faster now as he caught not.

"'And a little spin.'" He said, Shadowclaw immediately delving into a tight twirl, the dragon on his toes now. "'I'll draw a line in the dirt and then right after that, I'll go right up to you and poke you in the nose.'" The dragon did the promised tricks as he said them, swiping his claws across the ground and then shooting forward, poking Astrid's face right as he said the word 'nose.' Astrid blinked rapidly, flushing red with surprise and shock as Shadowclaw gave her a broad grin that spread from ear to ear. "'And to finish it all off, I'll do a little flip.'" Hiccup finished translating, rolling eyes as he spoke, smiling himself as he watched the kid perform the feat.

Landing neatly on the ground, Shadowclaw teetered on his legs, shooting Toothless and Mistyeyes a smug grin. "Wish you thoughta that one, huh?" He mused. Toothless chuffed with laughter, Mistyeyes giving a heave of relief at the newfound sight of Astrid. The girl's face was creased with thought and indecision as she took in the looks of all the dragons around them.

"…That was impressive." She commented finally, breaking the silence finally. She turned over to Hiccup, eyeing him as she turned a little reserved. Hiccup gave her an awkward grin in return, hitting the his arms loosely against his sides as he rocked back and forth a little aimlessly. Astrid paused for a moment, then said: "So you're really not lying?" She asked. "You guys…talk to each other?" She asked, the words coming off her tongue it what sounded like an odd way.

"Yeah. It's complicated." Hiccup said quickly. "And I don't expect you to understand all the way just yet, because…well, I can't even understand it all yet." Astrid deadpanned at this, as if asking: 'Then why'd you tell me in the first place?' But once again, Hiccup ignored her. "We can learn more about it later." He turned, looking out between the branches of the pine tree and looking outside. The moon was starting its ascent into the sky, which had grown pitch black by now as more and more stars started to make their appearance. "But right now I think we need to leave." He said swiftly.

Astrid jerked with surprised, obviously having not seen how late it had gotten to be outside.

"Let me go out first." Hiccup said, remembering how Astrid had taken the burden the last time. It was his turn now. Not giving the girl chance to object, he turned on his heel, edging over to the gap in the tree they used as a make-shift door and ducking outside. The small source of warmth and protection that the tree had offered him was taken away as he went out into the open, a blast of freezing cold wind being his greeter as he almost got buffeted right off his feet.

Bracing himself against the gusts, Hiccup narrowed his eyes with concentration, scanning the area around him with care. A tremor of anxiousness spread down his spine at the thought of running into some of the other Vikings out here in the forest. No doubt that they would stand a rather good chance, what with them having at least five Night Furies on their sides. Give or take four. With those odds on their side, there was little to no chance that they would actually no get off the island in the first place. Unless nets were shot at them with rapid fire action, there was almost a guarantee that they would make it off in time before they were too banged up.

But it the principal of the thing. They were trying to create peace in between Vikings and Night Furies. If they started this peace rally with a fight, they weren't getting off to such a good start, now would they? He looked across the still-damp foliage around them, trying to find some sort of movement or rustling around him to signal any kind of life. When he came up with nothing, he hesitantly raised up both hands, cupping them around his mouth. "Hello?" He called out, voice almost being swept away by the horrid weather. He waited for a moment before raising his voice little by little. "Hello!?" He shouted. Still nothing. Scanning the area once more, he turned back to the pine tree. "It's okay!" He called. "Come on out."

There was a pause, as if the others were checking for themselves before doing anything. But then Toothless slipped out from the cover of their shelter, slinking over to Hiccup and standing protectively beside his human. Ludi sat perched on the dragon's head neatly, her usual seat on the dragon, where she could tower over others and feel tall for once. The cat parted her jaws in a half-yawn, drinking in the scents of the area around her cautiously. Ears erect and searching for any noise. When she came up with nothing, she became bored at once, drooping visibly as she made herself more comfortable on the dragon's head. Toothless groaned a little at the movement, but didn't budge.

Mistyeyes appeared next, herding Shadowclaw along like a Sheppard would a sheep. She was trying to clear off all the loose pine needles that had stuck themselves against Shadowclaw's side, fussing over him motherly as she combed him through carefully. Shadowclaw ground and fussed underneath her grip, muttering something along the lines of 'suffocation' as he went back to join the others. And lastly, Astrid came through the tree herself, one hand resting on Nightflight's neck as she steered the dragon along like you would a horse. Hand tight enough on her to make her presence known, Astrid shifted it this way and that, herding the blind dragon along carefully.

"You know, I never thought of that." Hiccup said, nodding down to the way she was steering Nightflight. Astrid started at this, looking surprised at the praise. But then she smiled, glowing a small shade of pink at the thought of managing a dragon better than Hiccup. "You're really good with going that." He went on. "Steering her along, I mean." Nightflight's ears flicked at the words, but she didn't lash out like she normally did to others. Toothless cocked his head to the left, studying Nightflight like she was some sort of new specimen to be sorted out. Mistyeyes was either too absorbed in trying to clean up Shadowclaw, or she was just ignoring Toothless on purpose as she refused to look over at him. "If you practice enough, maybe you'll be able to do some pretty neat tricks." He offered.

Nightflight bristled, but Astrid spoke for her, surprisingly. "She's not a show pony." She scoffed playfully. Nightflight started at the words, looking shocked that the girl had said something so close to what she was thinking. But Astrid only gave another laugh, drawing back and taking her hand back to herself as she stepped back from the dragon. "Alright." She sighed happily, rubbing her hands together in preparation. "We're all here and ready for take-off." The girl seemed more than relieved to have a distraction from what Hiccup had just shown her, and the boy didn't blame her. He played along for her sake, knowing first-hand that sometimes it actually was better to avoid tasks at hand for a while in order to fix them correctly.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we can't be too careful." Hiccup sighed heavily, shoulders drooping at the thought of the long trek ahead of them. "Without any kind of supplies, it's going to be ten times as worse." His stomach was already yawning in on itself; the boy cursed his stupidity at not trying to get some kind of food during the day while everybody waited. But he'd been too tense at the thought of chancing whatever kind of danger was waiting for them if they went out there. Signs of fatigue and hunger showed in the faces around him, and he felt a small sense of guilt as he rubbed his arm nervously. Maybe if somebody had said something before, Hiccup might have put more thought into getting something to help them along.

"…I'm sure there will be stuff we need where we're going." Astrid assured him, though her smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Well, yeah." Hiccup said simply, not putting up such an optimistic charade by now. "But how long will it take us to get there?" Shadowclaw deflated a little at this, as if he knew that it would be too long of a flight with the way they were holding up now. "And how do we know what way we'll be greeted when we get there. Whether or not we'll have to fight or something." He bit his lower lip, turning around and looking back the way they had come, towards Berk. He blinked rapidly, mind coming to a hasty decision quicker than he would have liked. But he voiced the thought anyway. "I'll go get us something." He offered. But almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, Astrid was objecting shrilly.

"Hiccup, no." She said sharply. "What if you get caught? Then everything will fall apart. It's just a little hunger, Hiccup." She added, more gently. "We can deal with it. You don't need to keep putting yourself into hard situations to try and help. You've done it enough." She paused, then: "And if anybody should go and get something, it should be me. After all, you're in trouble with your dad. If he sees you, you're a goner. I'm not an official helper in this, yet. I might still have a chance if I get spotted. Plus, I'm probably faster than you."

"Astrid, just let me go." Hiccup pleaded. "I can be there and back within the hour. I'll be quick as a bunny."

"No." She said firmly, stamping her foot down on the ground with frustration.

"Astrid…" Hiccup tried weakly, voice taking on a more whiny tone at this.

"No." She replied, voice sharp.

"Astrid!" Hiccup yelled.

"No." She snapped.

"Can we go sometime this month?" Shadowclaw whined, breaking through their conversation as he jumped up and down on the ground. Hiccup and Astrid both whirled around to look back at him, breaking off in their fight as they blinked over at him with surprise. Mistyeyes had stopped in her grooming, blue eyes narroed as she had watched the two bicker back and forth. Sometimes they looked like an old married couple when they were together. They could spend hours fighting over whether or not a potato was a vegetable, it looked like.

"We can stop on the way there." She said, getting to her feet as she glared from the boy over to the girl. Astrid looked confused, looking over at Hiccup a little awkwardly, as if waiting for him to translate, but not wanting him to do so at the same time. Starting at her look, he complied, wincing slightly as he did so. It was obvious that the situation was still a little weird between them, but Mistyeyes tried not to linger on the fact. If they were going to be tripped up by simple feelings of tension, then they might as well stop right now. "It's too dangerous for anybody to go back to Berk, and that might take a lot of the time away that we need to get off the island in the first place. A million things could go wrong during it, so why bother? We have to go carefully, so we have to leave now."

Astrid blinked, eyeing the dragon a little oddly as Hiccup finished talking. Mistyeyes only replied by giving a tense nod of affirmation, as if confirming what Hiccup had said for her. "…I guess she has a point." Astrid mumbled finally, casting one last look back to the way that led back to the village. "Though I'd still much rather have something to eat in the next day or two." She said the point sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she spoke. But Hiccup hated to wonder whether or not her exaggeration might be a little too close to the truth.

Maybe they could manage to find a relatively-close island that wasn't inhabited. That way they could stop there and try to have Toothless or Ludi try and hunt down something for them. But, looking over at Ludi, Hiccup had to wonder whether or not that was such a smart idea. The cat was dozing off lazily, eyes narrowed into tired slits as she let out a loud yawn. She looked like she'd make a good match for a really old, slow, mouse. Which didn't really fill any stomachs; it didn't do much of anything, really.

"She's right." He finally managed to say, turning around and going over to Toothless worriedly. Astrid did the same with Nightflight, hesitating a moment before grabbing onto the Night Fury and hoisting herself up onto the dragon's back. She landed a little wobbly, flinching as she waited for the dragon to retaliate back at her. The blonde might had expressed her interest and odd sort of affection for the dragon, but even she knew that Nightflight was stubborn and mean at times. Like this one. Strong and powerful as she was, Nightflight didn't like humans riding her. That much was for certain, at least. But the Night Fury only shifted underneath the new weight, adjusting herself as she sniffed the air, searching for the salty tang of the sea. She had to find out which direction to face before she got into the air.

Looking a little anxiously over in Nightflight's direction, Hiccup started to strap himself onto Toothless's saddle, latching himself on tightly to ensure that he wouldn't fall off on accident. Though he couldn't doubt Astrid's flying ability when it came to maneuvering Nightflight, he had to wonder whether or not she would be able to fly as fast away from Berk as Hiccup was wanting her to. She didn't have a lot of practice flying with her, and if they lagged behind, it could make all the difference.

Hiccup shook his head roughly to clear his thoughts. There was nothing he could do about it, after all. He had to fly Toothless, otherwise the dragon would be grounded. Astrid was Nightflight's only hope right now, and looking up at her expression, Hiccup realized that the blonde was fully aware of the fact. Her mouth was set in a firm line, blue eyes tense and serious as she placed her hands firmly at the base of the dragon's neck. She caught him staring, perking a little bit as she looked up to meet his eyes. He glanced down at Nightflight, then back to her, giving her a small smile in hopes of comforting her. Astrid returned the expression a little shakily, loosening her shoulders as she looked over at him a little nervously.

"This is our last chance to back out." She warned, Nightflight shuffling her paws anxiously underneath her. The girl took a moment to readjust herself before going on. Her blue eyes were weighted down now, as the full extent of the situation took its toll on her. They were going to an island full of Night Furies, who may or may not accept them for who they were and what they stood for. Not only that, but when they came back, the village might not accept them either. No matter which way they looked, there was an obstacle. "There's no changing our minds after we leave."

Hiccup seemed to understand her worries and fears, eyes softening somewhat at the blonde. Mistyeyes and Shadowclaw exchanged looks from where they stood on the edge of the island, the head of the group. They had been waiting for the others to give the signal they could leave, but now they looked alarmed. As if they didn't know what to do now. Whether or not the two would actually leave. Seeing the sight made Hiccup realize how unsure everybody was in this situation. They were all as blind as Nightflight now, they didn't know what they were doing.

"No." Hiccup said firmly, drawing himself up and looking out over the ocean. "We're not backing out." Astrid seemed to relax at this, Mistyeyes and Shadowclaw breathing out puffs of relief. Toothless's ears flicked back and forth restlessly, though. His dragon was worried about him, and what they would find when they got back to the island. Steeling himself against his own fears, Hiccup tightened his hold on his Night Fury. His eyes narrowed with determination as he spoke firmly: "No matter what happens next, we'll be fine. We have each other, and that's all we need. We don't need Berk, and we don't need Nightflight's magic." The female jerked a little guiltily at this, but didn't respond outright. "All we need is knowing that we're all together on this. And nothing will change that."

Mistyeyes and Toothless shared a silent look, and the gray Night Fury managed a tentative smile at him. Toothless cooed worriedly at this, turning away with a small shrug as he looked over the waters. Hiccup sighed listlessly, "We don't know how this'll work out. Or what will happen because of it. But we just need to know that it will be okay. Because it will, I promise." His frayed nerves stung at the oath, the boy wincing as the words slipped out of his mouth.

He hoped he was right.

A broken promise couldn't be put back together.

It seemed to renew Astrid's faith, though. The blonde gave a small nod of affirmation, turning and drawing herself up with a new kind of courage. "Let's go, then." She said, glancing at Hiccup as she spoke. The boy agreed silently, and the girl raised her voice a little, makings sure that she wouldn't be heard from afar at the same time. "Alright, Shadowclaw and Mistyeyes." She called out in a sharp whisper. "You two take the lead! We'll follow!" The two brightened at the command, turning around and bunching their muscles up together tightly. Completely in sync, the two launched up from the grounds, wings shooting out at their sides and catching the wind as they swooped up into the night sky.

Hiccup and Astrid watched anxiously, silent as they avoided one another's gaze. Shadowclaw being brown, and Mistyeyes being a light gray color, they stuck out against the stars and the moon. They didn't blend in with the night as most Night Furies did, they were like monochromatic shades against a dark surface. It would make their escape tenser than Hiccup first expected, but he hoped that in them leaving from the back of the island, it would help in their staying hidden. But he shook himself out of his thoughts, cursing himself for not listening to his own advice he had just given. He turned around to face Astrid, blinking slowly. "You ready?" He asked, making it sound like they were just going for a walk.

Astrid gave him a wavering smile. "As ready as I'll ever be." She offered in response.

"…let's go, then." He said a little sadly, turning back around and crouching down closer to Toothless. The dragon got the message, flattening himself to the ground before following Shadowclaw and Mistyeyes into the stars. Immediately, the air around Hiccup seemed to get a million degrees colder, the winter air wrapping its arms tightly around him and refusing to let go. Teeth already chattering, he turned back around with a fright, expecting to see Nightflight and Astrid right where he had left them. On the ground and unable to get into the air after them. They'd have to stop the whole operation, and wait for the girl to catch up to them fully.

What he didn't expect was Astrid to be right beside him. The girl latched her hands onto Nightflight's collar, eyes narrowed tensely as she look around, on high-alert. Her hands twitched every so often, Nightflight correcting her angle as she leaned over more to the right or the left, leveling herself out. Hiccup blinked, eyes wide as he looked at Astrid with something close to amazement. Which couldn't be too far from the truth; the girl seemed to be a natural. Like she was meant to fly Nightflight and be her eyes when she needed them.

Turning away, Hiccup tried to focus on Shadowclaw and Mistyeyes, who were flying side-by-side up ahead. Hopefully that's it. He thought tensely. Did you want us to do this in the first place, Thor? He questioned, eyes breaking away from the two forms up ahead as he looked at the stars that surrounded them. But the night was clouded, large puffs of gray shielding his view of the sight. He deflated at the thought, turning around and looking back at Berk. The island was getting smaller and smaller behind them as they made quick work in getting away from their home. Hiccup felt half of him behind left behind in the forest, feeling like he was being torn into two. Being forced to chose between Berk and his own morals. He's already done that once. How many times was he expected to sacrifice himself for things? He felt a hollow feeling ache inside his chest, and he knew that it wasn't from hunger this time. It was something much more painful.

Did you mean for us to do this? He questioned, eyes bleak and sad as he watched Berk fade away.

Or am I just making a huge mistake?