Well, that prediction epically failed. I didn't even start typing this chapter until the Sunday afternoon following the Saturday night deadline I had set.
Review Replies:
EmberDragon (anonymous): No problem. I said that I would answer all questions (as long as it doesn't spoil events in the story), so if you ever have any others just send them in a review.
Jesusfreak (anonymous): I wish this update had been posted sooner, but here it is. Let's hope Hiccup CAN get his letter back to Berk, of course. The Gods do seem to hate him after all!
kitty.0: Thanks, I'll need the luck. I'm the teacher…well, in the absence of the regular teacher. Astrid is indeed a no-nonsense girl!
datubaman: I can see how that would happen. There are worse songs that could be stuck, though…like that "Happy" song. It's so overplayed.
dragonlover17: Yeah, why didn't he? It probably would've saved him a lot of trouble.
Guest (anonymous): Well, we'll check in again with Astrid next chapter and see how she's doing.
Guest (anonymous): Yes, you were very close with your guesstimates! Hiccup won't be saved for quite some time, I will say that and, when he is (because he can't live forever like this), it will be by someone he least expects! No, Astrid will definitely never let Hiccup out of her sight again…if he makes it back to Berk, that is! Here's the next update.
Next chapter starts…now!
Chapter 19: Sending A Message To Berk
Wheel in the Sky
The cold was persistent, just like on Berk. This season, the season of harsh snows, had always been Hiccup's least favorite. He'd never liked the biting cold that befell Berk for nine months out of every year. Now he disliked it even more as he struggled to survive a day at a time. It was, however, still early in the season. Though the nights were bitter, the days were manageable…as long as the sun was shining. Today was one of those days. The sun had warmed the air around Hiccup and his shivering had ceased for now.
There were some days and many nights when the questions raced through Hiccup's mind. If the Gods hated him so much, why did they choose to spare him and Toothless? Would they ever make it back home to Berk? Is this island destined to be their resting place? At times, the questions were overwhelming, dragging Hiccup down like a weight. Today was not one of those days. Maybe it was because the sun was shining, heating their surroundings and brightening Hiccup's mood. Maybe it was acceptance of the hand Fate had dealt him. Hiccup knew not the reason, but he did know that he felt more determined. That was why he found himself working to accomplish a different task on that day.
Nearby, Hiccup's packed satchel lay, almost forgotten, on the warm sand. The young Viking's eyes fell on the storage pack and he crawled over the short distance to grab it. Ever since Hiccup had awoken on the island, he had barely touched the satchel. Did I lose any of my supplies when…? he wondered. Finally, curiosity got the best of him and Hiccup decided to assess everything that he still had with him to determine how much had been lost when he and Toothless descended from the sky that fateful night almost four months prior.
As he continued his task, it become more and more evident that of the supplies he had brought from Berk, a substantial amount was probably now lying on the deep ocean floor somewhere in the vast expanse of waters surrounding them. It was discouraging, but Hiccup was certain that they could still find a way to survive this…even with the missing and lost supplies.
Sometime after Hiccup started working on his task, Toothless had come over and lay near him. The dragon had watched as his Rider looked through everything, determined what was accounted for and what was lost, and also assessed if anything was too damaged to be kept. Hiccup was so focused on his task that he did not notice Toothless's presence until he was just about finished. "Well…looks like we lost a lot of supplies, Bud…but I'm sure we can still survive, right?" Toothless, in reply, gave a low growl as he lowered his head down onto his outstretched paws. Hiccup understood how his friend felt, but there was nothing more he could do…or was there?
Lying among the supplies was Hiccup's small sketchbook and a charcoal pencil. These were the same supplies he had used to draw his map of the island. An idea again formed in Hiccup's brilliant mind as he remembered how he had not seen any other dragon riders fly overhead since that day about a month ago. Maybe Berk isn't sending out search parties because they don't know about what happened to me and Toothless? They probably think we are safe in that other village and completing our task of helping them train their dragons! I need to alert Berk! I'll write them a letter explaining everything!
Grabbing his pencil, Hiccup spent the next several minutes scratching out a brief note to quickly explain and detail all that had happened to him and Toothless. At the end of the note, he tried his best to describe his current location in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, the letter would reach home in time for Berk's experienced riders to save them. Hopefully, they will bring ships so we can get Toothless back to Berk…or someone like Astrid could stay here with me until… Wait… Hiccup's excited thoughts were halted as he realized that getting the letter back to Berk would be harder than he'd originally figured.
Before he had left on this quest, Hiccup had come up with a new training idea: to train Terrible Terrors to act as air-mail carriers. However, he had not yet gotten a chance to try out this new idea. Not that it mattered because he'd yet to see one of the little dragons on this island anyway.
"Now how am I going to get this to Berk?" he, gesturing to the handwritten letter still safely located on a previously-blank page in his sketchbook, asked his dragon, as if the large reptile could provide a suitable answer. "Well, it was a good idea…" he answered with infamous dry sarcasm. Hiccup was about ready to scrap the idea of getting the letter back to Berk when he noticed something bobbing nearby in the gentle waves near the edge of the beach. Picking himself up from the sand, Hiccup walked over and grabbed the object. When he looked down at the object in his hands, he found it to be quite familiar. It was a strip of leather torn from Toothless's saddle. It must've come loose and broken off when they hit the waters. The boy did not know why he had never noticed that Toothless's saddle was strangely absent. Probably because there were more important things to worry about, he figured.
Tearing the letter from his sketchbook, Hiccup folded it in half and tucked it into the center of the leather strap. He then folded the leather, but had to retreat into the woods to find some vine to tie around it. The leather had been resistant to being folded into place, but with the vine wrapped tightly in place, it looked like a small package. Just to make sure, though, that the water could not seep through and ruin the letter, Hiccup gathered several of the dead tree leaves from the floors of the woods and, using more vines, tied them on top of the leather strip. When finished, the letter-turned-package looked very deliberate. If it did make find its way to Berk, there was no doubt that someone would open it. Vikings were very curious by nature.
As Hiccup watched the waves breaking on the beach, he came to another realization. I have to make sure to place this out beyond where these waves are crashing or else it will never leave this island; the water would just continue to push it back up onto the beach. Hiccup had been working on his distance-throwing lately. He had found that one of Toothless's favorite activities was running off to retrieve sticks thrown by Hiccup. Of course, once the stick was returned, covered in Night Fury saliva, Hiccup would reluctantly pluck it from his dragon's mouth and quickly toss it aside. I should be able to at least throw this letter far enough to get it out to sea, he mused.
Toothless sat nearby and watched as Hiccup pulled his arm back as far as he could. "Well, here goes nothing," he muttered as he swung his arm forward and let go of the letter, letting momentum carry it through the air. The wind must've picked the light object up on the way because it landed further out than Hiccup expected. He smiled at the accomplishment, but it was short-lived as he realized that the chance of the waters actually carrying his letter to the shores of Berk was, most likely, slim to none. "Well…at least we tried…right?"
Well, this one was only a few days late so I guess that's not too bad. I wrote this up instead of watching the new Sailor Moon reboot or playing Sims. I feel accomplished (just like Hiccup!). Yeah, I don't really have much to say.
Plus, I just realized that they do say "Winter" in Gift of the Night Fury. Sorry, I was going with the idea of traditional Vikings here. They wouldn't have said "Winter". That's why Hiccup and Astrid call it "the season of harsh snows".
Coming Up Next: The pressure to make a decision was starting to get to Astrid. She knew that the Chief wanted to hear her answer, but she had none to give. With all the added stress, Astrid had not even had time to get back to organizing up a search party for her lost boyfriend. At least, there was peace in her dreams. In her dreams, there was Hiccup.
Next chapter: I'll probably aim for next Sunday night after 10 PM US East Coast time. If not then, then definitely (hopefully!) Monday after 8 PM US East Coast time (because I'm actually off from my day job on Monday. Yay!)
As always, thank you all for reading and supporting Wheel in the Sky!
Posted: May 19, 2014
