Hope
Astrid was feeling a bit more hopeful after she gone on that miraculous outing on Toothless. She at least was comforted by the fact, while Hiccup's soul was still missing, she could at least sense that he was alright for the most part. Nevertheless she still didn't' know where he was or whom this Una was. For she was sure she'd heard that name and it must be someone very important. Could Hiccup's soul be with this child? If so why and would he ever return to his body? Was he meant to be with this mysterious child? Was there anything she could do to help? For she was starting to miss Hiccup something terrible, it was like someone had taken a burning hot knife and drove it into her heart. That was how much pain she was feeling from Hiccup being gone. The only other two whom felt this bad were of course Stoick and Toothless. Still there was nothing they could do.
Right now the Riders were at the Academy practicing their defense skills. Using hand signals and practicing speaking in code they're able to prepare an array of surprise attacks, just in case of Alvin or Dagur came to try and attack them. It was going much better then expected. Right now Astrid was on top of Stormfly and gazed back down on the former arena.
"Okay, time for a sneak attack! If we want any chance to protect our home we need to be able to work as a flawless team. So now I want you all to close your eyes, and then I'll try to do a sneak attack. Use your normal dragons, and the Terrible Terrors. We need to get those little guys to work with our normal dragons. Okay?"
"Okay, Blondie, we're going to so kick your dragon's butts!" Snotlout crowed loudly as he climbed onto Hookfang's neck. He took Chopper as he'd named his Terror and got ready for an attack. Near the old prisons the twins hid and waited. Butt and Head were resting on their shoulders ready to attack if given the right signal. Fishlegs was with Meatlug and Iggy were hiding as well, where they're unknown.
A few moments passed and then a cloud blocked out the sun. All of sudden the whizzing of arrows could be heard. Snotlout had Hookfang blasted the arrows. In the mist of all the arrows Astrid's Terrible Terror dragon Silent tried to sneak attack from behind, and would've succeeded if not for Butt and Head head-butting him just before he reached Snotlout. Chopper leapt off Snotlout's left shoulder and shot straight for the next barrage of arrows. He chomped each of them in half and headed off to confront Stormfly. Just as he was about to clamp down on her food he was snatched out of the air by Iggy and then returned to the ground. The larger dragons then via hand signals began to finish the exercise and managed to force Stormfly from the sky and force her into an enclosure. Then when Astrid tried to defend herself she was also caught after she tripped on Barf and Belch's double tails.
"Well, I guess that completes this exercise! Well done guys! We've made a lot of great improvement! So I give all of us an A+ for such a great performance!"
"Thanks, Blondie! Glad you think so! I think it's safe to say we don't always need the runt of the litter to help us with our dragons. We can manage without the runt for a little bit, can't we guys? Snotlout Snotlout Oy Oy Oy!" he proclaimed triumphantly as he kissed his muscles happily.
"Yeah, we can manage without a runt for awhile. Uhh…Ruff?"
"Yeah, Tuff?"
"What's a runt?"
"Don't know, hey Fishlegs? You seem to be…what the word? Oh yeah, smart! So what's a runt?"
"Oh, Odin, please, just strike me down now!" Astrid muttered under breathe exasperated at the same time as Fishlegs attempted to convey to the two dumb blond twins what a runt was. Astrid wondered every now and then, if the twins were dropped on their heads as babies and that why they're so dumb and oblivious at times. Though it could be also not many Vikings other then Hiccup bothered to use their brains for any reason whatsoever!
"Okay! Okay! Let's not get distracted here, guys! We've got some major work and still need to keep improving! We need to get a lot more done so we'll be ready for when Hiccup comes back to teach us more!"
"Hold it for a sec, Miss High and Mighty, we still don't even know if Hiccup will even come back ever! He could be gone forever! We can't just wait for him to wake up! I mean he doesn't have his soul for Gods Sakes! I don't want to burst your bubble, Astrid, but there is a high chance he won't come back!"
"Snotlout, don't you even feel ever just once a tiny bit of hope or compassion? Or are you incapable of feeling anything other then how firm your biceps feel?" When she asked this question he was kissing his arms for a second time. He stopped abruptly and stared at her.
"I'm just stating a fact, Astrid! And the fact remains we don't know if Hiccup's ever coming back! So we might as well elect a new leader! And seeing how I'm the strongest and most true Viking here I elect myself to be leader! So anyone else agree?"
"You may be the strongest; Snotlout, but you ain't the smartest! So I'd say I should be the new leader!" Fishlegs challenged the Viking bully. He seemed surprised by his own daring and nerve. Yet he'd only felt this way once before. It was when that idiot of a Viking had been selling Changewing eggs for profit. He really stepped up to the plate with his courage and intimations. As a result he was more then prepared to give Snotlout the butt kicking of the century, should it prove necessary.
"Well, you may be the strongest, Snotlout." Tuffnut interjected and his twin continued, "And you may be the smartest, Fishlegs," then together they stated proudly, "Yet we're the toughest! We can withstand more pain and we can fight much better then rest of you put together. So we should be the new leaders!"
Almost immediately one and all were bickering like dragon hatchlings. Astrid just shook her head in disgust as did most of the other dragons. This wasn't productive at all. This was just immature in addition to stupid. She wondered if this how Hiccup felt most of the time when they're training. It must be very frustrating and agonizing. No wonder he was so tense at times. Taking a deep breath she tried to calm down enough to make an effort to stop this childish behavior. Walking calmly into the center of the ring she grabbed everyone by their ears and dragged them out of the ring and threw them at the wall. "ENOUGH!" she shouted at them stunning the teenagers very much.
"I said enough! We won't elect a new leader! Hiccup shall return I can feel it in my bones! He will come back! When we don't know but we must remember he's truly the only one whose worthy of being leader. Being a true leader is more then being strong, smart, or tough! It comes from the heart and soul! And Hiccup is a better leader then all of us put together! So for now, we will cease these shenanigans and work together, to defend our home till he comes back from where on earth he is!"
The other Viking teens just stared at her in awe, clearly taken aback by both her passion as well as her loyalty to Hiccup. She if truth be told seemed serious that Hiccup would come back. Though how and why they weren't sure of at the moment in time, since Astrid hadn't really shared the details of her ride with Toothless, with anyone but Stoick. So they didn't understand her strong faith or belief that things would change. But there was no denying the fact she was firmly confident that he would come back.
"What makes you think so?" they all demanded at once. Flipping her long blond hair over her shoulder she just stared at them with such conviction that she seemed for a moment to be someone more then ordinary.
"Because, I've heard him and I know he's safe. I also feel he will return once he does whatever he's meant to do. So for now we may still not have many clues or a lot of evidence that he shall come back. But I'm sure that he will come back! He's just doing a good deed or two rights now, and once he's done that he shall come back!"
"Wait, wait, wait a second! What do you mean, that you've 'heard him? What in the name of Thor are you talking about, Astrid?! You're making less sense then Fishlegs when he starts rambling on about the Book of Dragons!"
"Yeah, what are you talking about?" Ruffnut inquired as she jumped off her dragon's head to hear her better. She was soon followed by both her brother and Fishlegs, seeing how everyone wanted to hear exactly what Astrid had to say. No-one wanted to miss a single solitary word she had to say. Everyone had been totally depressed and edgy since Hiccup's soul gone missing and they wanted to hear what the news was.
"Okay, I'll tell you guys. The other day when I took Toothless out on a ride, I heard this song. It was an amazing song…" she started to say when Snotlout interrupted.
"Song? A song? You heard a stupid song? What does someone's honking have to do with finding Hiccup?" He quickly regretted his rudeness as the aggravated fair-haired Viking kicked him in groin to shut him up. He winced in major pain and everyone else giggled at this, though one look from Astrid's piercing blue eyes made them shut up as well. They didn't want to also be on the receiving end of Astrid's boot! So they quickly backed away some and shut their mouths tightly, with one final stare she continued on.
"I heard this remarkable song; it was like hearing the whole island in perfect harmony. It was a music you never heard before, yet have always known in your own heart and soul. Not to mention Toothless was singing too."
"A Night Fury singing? Hey maybe we can all teach our dragons to sing and entertain the whole island this year for Snoggletog!" Fishlegs spoke up brightly. He was gazing at Meatlug who was busy chewing up a little platinum. He looked at an annoyed Astrid, and said, "But we can worry about that later! Please continue with your story!"
"Thank you! Point is while I was hearing this song, I felt like I was being kissed! Then I kid you not, I heard Hiccup's voice! He was talking to someone! A child! I think the child's name is Una, but I know for a fact I did hear them talking! I know what I heard and I know that Hiccup's soul is alive and well. Maybe if we find out who this Una is and what else is going on maybe then we could bring Hiccup home!"
"So let us get this straight. You took Toothless out for a ride, heard some weird song. Then felt like you were kissed, then you swore you heard Hiccup talking to a child named Una? And you think he's safe?" Tuffnut repeated back to her slowly.
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Well, I think I speak for everyone when I say that is one of the most wacky but coolest things I've ever heard!"
"I agree with, Tuffnut! It's totally crazy but if you think Hiccup's fine then I say that a good thing! So do you have any idea where we go from here?" questioned Ruffnut who was totally awestruck by Astrid's statement.
"No, I do not know where we go from here. However, I do believe strongly we need to try and communicate with Hiccup's misplaced soul. So maybe if we just shut up and listen for awhile we may hear something else that can bring back Hiccup!"
"Well, can we wait a little bit?" wheezed Snotlout whose voice was high and squeaky from being kicked in the balls. For once he wasn't being a proud and smug dolt. Though maybe now he'd learn not to be so rude.
"We can try tomorrow. For now let's finish training and go on a short patrol and then maybe we figure out our next move. Still at least now we've got some hope that things will work out for us and the rest of Berk!"
And with new faith and hope raging through them it looked like there was finally a bright light at the end of the tunnel!