Yeah…I took a brief hiatus from writing fanfictions. It wasn't entirely by choice, though. Life has been pretty busy lately with summer ending and all. Hopefully, I can update a few more times for all my active HTTYD stories before the season does officially end.
Now, though, let's finally finish off this arc! After this, all the introductions for this story will be complete. I can honestly tell you all that I am looking forward to Arc 3.
Review Replies:
kitty.0: That's possible indeed. Granted, Hiccup will probably think of something by the time we see him again.
lorde (anonymous): There will be Hiccstrid.
Guest (anonymous): Well…I do like suspense. I like to read it, but I like to write it even more. That's a pretty sound idea. I could probably use it. I'll have to outline it (helps me as the writer because I can see where I'm going). That process will take time, but I will write it.
Next chapter starts…now!
Chapter 28: Decisions and Risks
Here Without You
It had been several days now since Astrid had awoken with Heather's name on her lips. The dream had shaken the blonde Viking teen and she had not found sleep again that night. Still, though, Astrid could not forget what she had seen. What did the dream mean? Did it mean anything at all? The dream had definitely been strange. Though Astrid had dreamed several times of Hiccup, never before did the dreams have anyone else present.
Currently, Astrid looked out over the waters again. A cold breeze blew through Berk and raised the thin hairs on Astrid's arms and back of her neck. Even as the air temperature continued to drop, Astrid refused to seek shelter in the warmth of her home or the Great Hall. It was cold, but Astrid couldn't stop herself from looking to the skies. She could just imagine Hiccup and Toothless flying overhead, showing off their daring tricks with no thought that anyone below might be watching and worrying slightly at their recklessness. Imagining brought a strange comfort and ease to Astrid's mind, but it was always short-lived as her thoughts would continue to shift back to that strange dream.
Astrid knew that her friends would not come looking for her out here in the cold. They preferred the comfort of warmth and were most likely in their homes sitting by roaring fires. The cold didn't bother Astrid, though; she barely felt it now. Numb. That was how she had felt night after night since the dream. Sleep did not come easily. Though she hated to admit it, Astrid feared falling asleep and seeing another dream with Hiccup and Heather together, loving each other as she, herself, loved Hiccup. Seeing Hiccup and Heather together as lovers one more time would crush her heart…before shattering the fragile organ into tiny unfixable shards.
After standing out in the cold for what felt like hours, Astrid finally decided that she should take refuge. She was determined to find Hiccup somehow and that would never happen if she ended up freezing to death first. Instead, she decided to make her way to the Great Hall for dinner. Maybe, with some luck, her friends would be there. Astrid wanted to talk with them about…or, actually, demand they accompany her on another search (and, hopefully, rescue) mission to find Hiccup.
On her way to the Great Hall, Astrid passed by Hiccup's father. It had been a while now since the Chief had last approached her about taking Hiccup's place in the mission. Perhaps he had forgotten. Maybe Stoick wouldn't ask her anymore. This was wishful thinking, as Astrid quickly realized.
Stoick had already walked past Astrid when he stopped and softly spoke her name to get her attention.
Stopping, Astrid answered softly, "Evening, Chief." She was about to walk away when he stopped her.
"Have you thought about the question I posed to you? I really need to get an answer to that tribe."
Astrid sighed quietly, knowing that there was no way she would be getting out of this. Frankly, though, Astrid couldn't imagine anyone else more suited for the job if not Hiccup. The other teens were not reliable and would surely start unintentionally start a war between the two tribes. No adult Viking knew enough dragon knowledge yet to be successful on the mission. Besides, Astrid had always been Hiccup's second-in-command. Even she knew this to be true. The answer was clear. "I have thought about it," Astrid lied. "I will complete the mission in Hiccup's absence, but, Chief, just give me some time to prepare. Knowing that this very mission took Hiccup's life," Astrid continued her lie, hoping it was convincing, "it's overwhelming. I want to make sure that I am truly prepared before leaving Berk with Stormfly to complete this mission."
In reality, Astrid wanted as much time as possible to continue searching for Hiccup, but it seemed that her lie worked because she saw the Chief nod in reply. "Understandable. I will relay this information to the other tribe. Thank you, Astrid."
The Chief walked away and Astrid dropped her fake smile. Time was running out and Astrid knew that she needed to act now if she wanted an opportunity to organize another search party. She continued her journey to the Great Hall, but this time she was not thinking about eating dinner. Instead, Astrid was hoping that her friends would be found in the large gathering building situated beside Hiccup's house.
Walking into the Great Hall, Astrid immediately felt the warmth from the multiple firepits in the building. It was comfortable and she sighed in content; Astrid had not realized just how cold it was outside now that the sun had dipped below the horizon. Just as she hoped, Astrid found her friends seated at a table. They looked to be finishing up their dinner. Good, Astrid remarked to herself. I can talk with them about this without distraction.
Astrid approached the table but she did not take a seat. "Alright, listen up," she told the other teens, grabbing their attention instantly. "Remember a while back when I mentioned that we'll be forming our own search party for Hiccup?"
"You mean…when you forced us to join you in searching for Hiccup?" Tuffnut retaliated.
"Exactly," Astrid replied. "Well, we're doing it. We'll meet in the town center early tomorrow morning before everyone else wakes up. If you forget to show up, I will find you and drag you to the town center. It is absolutely important that we fly out and search tomorrow."
"Why is this so important, Astrid?" Snotlout asked. "None of the other search parties have found anything."
"Yeah," Fishlegs replied. "Besides, it's getting colder. Why do you want us to put our own safety at risk?"
Astrid sighed, debating how much she should tell the others. She could even understand their hesitation. The request was very sudden, but it had to be. Hiccup's life could be in their hands and Astrid refused to waste that time sitting around and hoping that some clue would just appear. Finally, Astrid settled for a simple answer that was sure to convince the others to meet her in the square early tomorrow morning. "Because I…I think Hiccup is in trouble."
~End Arc 2~
Okay, I like the ending, but I totally had it play out differently in my head last night…and now I can't remember the wording I had come up with…I fail. I did think of an entirely new arc to add in though. I believe the one I came up with will be Arc 5…and I'm super excited for that one too. That one will be either the second-to-last or third-to-last arc. Depends if anything else comes up.
Next arc will be much more enjoyable than this one, I can promise you that. The next arc will bring in some more conflict…and some new characters.
Coming Up Next: The season of harsh snows was always worst towards the end. Hiccup knew this from his days on Berk. Days would start getting warmer soon and Hiccup was thankful, but he had to make it through these last days of the season of harsh snows first.
Next Chapter: As I said in Brave, I really don't know when I'll get around to updating my stories. My schedule is starting to fill up again and life is getting busy. Instead of making guesses that'll probably end up being wrong anyway, I'm just gonna say to watch the story announcements section on my profile for information regarding what's going on with my life and my stories. Hopefully soon I can get back to a more consistent schedule where I can give more accurate predictions, but for now, this is all I've got.
Thank you all for reading and supporting Wheel in the Sky! See you all in Arc 3!
Posted: August 12, 2014
