~*~ Five years later ~*~

"Alright, Stormfly, let's finish up our patrol and head back."

'Squawk!'

It has been five years, five long years since Hiccup left. Five long years that Astrid has had to think about everything that has happened in her life and what it is to become now. In those in-between years, so much has happened and changed in Berk that, sometimes, she can't remember the old Berk. This was what Hiccup would have wanted, what he believed could be possible. Now, there was only one piece missing. Hiccup himself. They had heard nothing about a Night Fury from any of the other islands, much less a boy riding a Night Fury.

Astrid knew that Stoic was taking it worse than all of them. He carried a flask of mead with him everywhere, and she had sometimes witnessed the chief breaking down when he believed he was alone. He had prayed to every god, wishing for his son's safe return and that he should be struck down for being a terrible father and husband, both his son and wife taken by dragons.

But, life in the village kept going, even if it did feel gray and lifeless now. With Hiccup gone, the throne would go to the next of kin. As Stoic had no other family, he had to pick a new successor. Unfortunately, this means that it comes down to Astrid and Snotlout. Snotlout never liked it, and had continued to flirt with her, sometimes trying to corner her when he had drunk too much mead.

She intended to leave while she still could. To get away and find Hiccup. She didn't know how or where or even if she would find him. But she knew that only the Day of Ragnarok would keep her from finding him. She had been thinking about Hiccup and her living together. While 5 years ago she would deny it, even to herself, but she had always had something of a soft spot for Hiccup. Seeing him in the arena had brought it to the forefront of her mind. He may have been small, but she had felt an inner strength exuding from him. In spite of all the teasing and name calling, and sometimes, beatings, he still stood strong and took everything in stride. Astrid doubted that she could have done that.

Reaching level ground again, she dismounted and went to Stoick's hut. Knocking politely, she was greeted with a muted, "Enter." She went inside and was greeted by Stoick, trying to look strong, before he saw it was Astrid, and his face fell back to how he actually felt. Loss, hurt, depression, and pain all radiated out from him.

"Yes, Astrid?"

"I want to try to find Hiccup."

"Astrid…We have looked and looked, but we haven't found hide nor hair of Hiccup, or his dragon."

"Because we have only looked around the other islands!"

Stoick suddenly slammed his meaty hands on the table, almost breaking it, as he stood with enough force to knock over the chair,"Where else could he have gone?!" Scared, but unwilling to show any break in her resolve, Astrid fired back "To places that we haven't explored yet!"

"And where do you suppose he went then?"

Astrid stopped, her mind coming up blank. She didn't know where he was. But looking at Stoick, she could see that, mixed in with his anger and acceptance, there was a hope there, hope that Hiccup was still alive and okay, that Stoick could see him just once more. She had seen him wear that expression before, a look of pain that spoke of a cruelty that had been repeated twice too often.

While the entire village had taken to the idea of dragons helping them, Stoick still had his doubts about dragons. Everyone agreed that they were good now, but no one could blame him. His wife taken, he had disowned his son. All over dragons.

"I don't know for certain where he could be, but I can still look. It's better than just sitting her doing nothing."

"And you think that I have done nothing?" Stoick's voice had dropped to a much quieter, but much more threatening tone, daring her to challenge him. "I meant no disrespect." Astrid said, knowing she had pushed too far and trying to back track.

Stoick looked livid, before he seemed to calm himself. "Of course you did not, Astrid…" He apologized. He couldn't believe that he had almost lost his temper. "You wanted my permission to find Hiccup?"

"Yes, Chief."

"Do you have a plan of where you want to look?"

"It isn't any great secret that as clumsy as Hiccup was, he was also much smarter than us. I believe that he would have gone to the far north."

"He was always smarter than us, that's true. But why do you think the far north? Wouldn't he freeze?"

"Not with the Night Fury he has."

"Alright. If you think that he is living, somehow, in the far north, I give you permission to look for him."

Astrid smiled, her first real smile in a long time. "Thank you!"

She rushed home, hoping to leave as soon as possible. Even though she was using this as an excuse to leave, she could not deny that she wanted to find Hiccup as well. Over the years, she had found herself missing him more and more, to a point where she often had dreams about him. They were all strange too. They consisted of Hiccup, Toothless, large ice structures, and a mysterious 4-winged dragon.

The next morning, she left Berk, heading north, for the first hour she looking everywhere around her. But as the day dragged on, she relaxed into the saddle, knowing that she would be out here for weeks, looking for Hiccup. Landing on one of the glaciers, she settled down for the night. She would find him. That was a heita that she would keep.

After a week of searching, she experienced a sense of déjà vu. A giant glacier of greenish ice stuck out, and looking closer she saw that there were two dragons circling in the skies above and on their backs, were riders. Feeling elated, she moved Stormfly closer, wanting to say hi.

That was when she saw that the two riders were fighting. One jumped on the other, pulling him off his dragon. The larger, riderless dragon seemed to just turn tail and fly away. The two riders landed on the ice below. Astrid was now close enough to see that one was Dagur the Deranged, the head of the Berserkers. The other had a helmet on, disguising himself. Knowing the threat that Dagur posed to anyone, she decided she needed to step in and help this person.

"Stormfly!" She said to the dragon, patting the base of the tail. Stormfly squawked in acknowledgement, shooting her spines so that Dagur was trapped. Both men were struggling to their feet, wanting to be the first one up. Astrid landed, not trusting either, but more willing to trust the stranger than Dagur.

"You can't protect them forever. I will get them." Dagur said, before whistling and calling a Skrill to him. Mounting it, he took off.

"That was brave on your part."

Astrid rounded on the other man, still feeling defensive.

"…Astrid?..."

"How do you know me?"

The man took off his helmet, showing his longer brown hair, a thin but well-formed face, and bright green eyes. Before she even knew what she was doing, she had dropped her axe and was running forward. Bringing both arms up, she looked him in the eye…and socked him in the shoulder.

"That's for leaving without saying anything, and staying away for 5 years."

She then pulled him into a bone crushing hug.

"That's for me being able to find you again."

(A/N: Hello everyone who is still reading up to this point. Thank you so much for doing so. Now, I had an idea to write what happens in the 5 year timeskip. Unfortunately, I did not put it here as it will take time, lots of time to write. However, if you would like to see it please either leave a comment saying that you want to see it or send me a message saying you want to see it. I love all you guys and gals who are still reading this, you guys are why I continue writing. Next Chapter, we meet Hiccup's posse. This is YW20, signing off.)