Chapter 6

She didn't see him again the rest of the day. Astrid was concerned. She walked up to his house; it was a little after the expected dinner time and the sun had just set with a dimmingly faint orange glow still looming on the tip of the horizon. She stood at the door and knocked-no answer. Astrid had seen Stoick at the Great Hall before coming here; but what about Hiccup? After standing there for a minute she decided to enter. There across the room was the boy lying on the bed and his dragon on the floor. He didn't move –asleep. She silently left.

Astrid returned the next morning just after breakfast. She knew that Hiccup and Toothless liked to go for early morning flights but wasn't Hiccup smart enough to not do so in his condition? After knocking on the door, she was greeted with the same response as last time: no answer. Upon entering she quickly discovered that no one was home. Now she was mad- Hiccup had better not gone out flying! Outside of her chores, Astrid spent the day looking for him. She checked the cove, the forge, the Great Hall and even flew on Stormfly to get an aerial perspective of Berk but didn't spot him anywhere. Just as the sun set, she decided to check his house before calling it a day. The boy was asleep in his bed again with Toothless curled up on the floor. Astrid stormed home. Ooh, that is it! Where had he gone exactly?! She laid in the bed that night staring at the wooden beam ceiling contemplating the actions her friend had enacted by analyzing every detail in her mind trying to dissect and discover his hidden motive. He couldn't have stayed home all day-in his condition; no one would want to. So where did he go?

This time she went even earlier in the morning. If she couldn't talk to Hiccup, she would ask Stoick if he knew anything. What surprised her was finding Stoick leaving his house this early.

"He's still sleeping. I'm just going to go get breakfast at the Great Hall." Though he tried to show a chiefly character, the young woman could detect the depression in his voice.

"Okay, I'll just wait for him." She walked inside and spotted the lump on the bed blanketed by a quilt. She then eyed the kitchen and saw some dishes next to the wash bucket. Why not? It would give her something to do while she'd wait. She was not more than ten minutes through her task when she realized that the only noise emanating throughout the house was her. She paused and listened- absolute quiet; not even the sound of Toothless breathing. Toothless! She had completely forgotten. The young teen turned around to look towards the bed, Toothless wasn't curled up around the bed. Suspicious, the blond teen placed the dish aside, dried her hands and approached the side of the bed. The being was still there but she couldn't distinctly make out the shape of a body-or a head for that matter. Quickly grapping the blanket, she threw it away revealing a line of pillows. Pillows? Pillows! She had to give him credit but not now because she was choleric and had chores that needed to get done. Astrid stormed out of the house.

She told herself she didn't care and wouldn't worry. That afternoon, she found herself in the Haddock home trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle, again. If he was gone early in the morning, before anyone was up, and in bed before anyone came home, then he should be coming home about now. She sat in a chair gazing about the room until something caught her eye. One spot of the floor next to the bed wasn't gleaming from the sunlight that streamed in from the window. Curious, she walked over and then noticed another clump by the back door. Where was he going to be dragging mud in here? She walked out the back and scanned the ground looking for a particular footprint. Well, more like a square imprint made by the lack of a second foot. There over in the bush was….a notebook? She picked it up and opened it, immediately able to identify it as his. Her heart broke as she finished reading the last and most recent page. She looked up trying to get any evoking tears back to where they belong. Something caught her eye. In the middle of the rock cliff in front of her was something red swishing back and forth just like ….

oOo

Hiccup sat with Toothless on a cliff ledge that over looked the village. It was a rather large ledge, almost like an open cave in the middle of the mountain. There was a small trail that the two would take reach this mysterious flat spot in the middle of the rock cliff. They would spend the whole day up here whether to listen and, in essence, see what was happening in Berk or to be alone, letting his mind churn the whole situation. They first came here after the encounter with the teens. Hiccup knew it would be no use to try dragon training with their behavior. His dad, since not having talked with him, was most likely avoiding him, probably having Astrid constantly watch over him which would explain why she was constantly supervising him. Was his father ashamed of him, again? He was back to his original position of being the village nuisance. For the past three days he would try to write down these chagrin thoughts in his journal though today he dropped it 'cause the useless reptile had the wise idea of trying to fly. His current contemplation was how to find it before anyone else did. Overall, Hiccup liked being able to spend time and play with Toothless. It was like the days when it was just them; though he had begun to miss the human company. There the two sat one blindly staring out into the unknown world in front of him.

"It's a beautiful view huh?"

Both the boy and the dragon spun around to face the voice they heard behind them though only one could see who it was. Astrid walked forward and sat next to Hiccup. It was silent for a moment before she resumed.

"You must feel horrible to just up and disappear. You're really good at hiding, you know. I was searching for you like crazy these past few days –in the cove, the forge, the air- but I could never find you. And whenever I checked your house, you were either sleeping or gone. It wasn't until I noticed Toothless' tail swishing in the middle of the cliff that I did." Hiccup sat still, staring out in front of him. Thanks bud. Astrid continued. "Your dad's been very depressed; he's concerned about you." She paused, closed her eyes and took a deep breath before speaking again. "I'm concerned about you."

Thank you for reading.