It was around afternoon when we arrived at the Edge.
Phantom landed on the platform of the clubhouse and I hopped off his back carefully, then strode inside clubhouse.
"I am—" I looked around the empty room confused "Alone…?"
I looked through the clubhouse once more, bewildered then walked out of it and headed to Hiccup's hut.
Maybe they weren't even here. I let out a breath and when I was about to knock on the door it suddenly opened to reveal a sleepy Hiccup holding a parchment.
"Anne!" he exclaimed and stared at me with a frown "Everyone is searching for you on Berk"
I scratched my nape a bit and smiled sheepishly "Well, I couldn't stay locked up in the house for that long and…" I trailed off while I stepped to the side and motioned to Phantom excitedly "Guess who I found!" I squealed and jumped a bit.
His eyes widened and after he gawked at Phantom for a few seconds he chuckled and shook his head slightly.
"I am not even going to ask where you found him. But I am happy for you" he smiled and stepped out of his hut, letting Toothless walk out.
"Aw I missed you Toothy" I said and hugged his neck.
"Me too Anne" he purred and licked my cheek, making me giggle.
I glanced at Hiccup "How do you know they are searching for me? And I left for only two days now, like come on"
"Terror mail. Just got it. Johann is overreacting. Like he doesn't know that you tend to disappear then appear" he joked and started to walk to the clubhouse "I'll tell him you're here and that he doesn't have to worry"
I gave a nod and thanked him.
When we got to the clubhouse, I got sit carefully on a chair and gazed at the intricate marks on my palms. They weren't as red as some hours ago and they didn't hurt as much, but there was still the dull ache of the burnt flesh.
I didn't even know what they meant and the whole notion was creeping me out. How could they just appear out of nowhere? There was no one when I stepped into the cave, right? No one to grab my hands and brand them with hot iron. No one—
"Anne? Good to see you here, how are you feeling?"
I turned my palms down and snapped my eyes to Astrid's who gave me a tired smile.
"It's better than before" I said and chuckled a bit awkwardly as I got up "How's it been around here?"
Astrid looked slightly conflicted on telling me or not but she spoke after a bit, telling me the whole thing from head to toe. It was a real mess.
She shook her head slightly as she leant against the wall behind her "So now Heather and Ingrid are missing and the Dragon Eye is gone. We've underestimated them"
"Especially Viggo"
I looked at Hiccup and nodded slowly in understanding. From what it sounded like, this Viggo guy was pretty cunning and he just played them like a bunch of little kids. I frowned a bit.
"But you said that he doesn't have the Snow Wraith key, why would he want the Dragon Eye if he doesn't have a key?"
"That's pretty much the question I've been asking myself since the moment they were gone. Maybe they'll try to unlock it another way, or try to get another key"
My snapped up to Hiccup's "The later would mean that they would try to find and catch a Snow Wraith again…" I chewed a bit on the inside of my cheek
Hiccup gave a nod and grabbed a charcoal pencil "We'll see what happens, but I think that you should go back to Berk in the next days. You're still healing and I don't think it's a good idea to stay around here in your state" he said as he finished writing on a parchment and rolled it up.
"Wait… What…? Come on, Hiccup. I am fine. It doesn't even hurt anymore" I got up slowly and walked to the table "And I'll go crazy if I stay locked up in a house for another week or two"
I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned my head to see Astrid.
"Anne, he's right, you're in no state to be out here, not even talking about fighting or anything like that"
"But—"
"No. You're going back to Berk, Anne. It's for your own good" Hiccup stated firmly.
"Just listen me out at least" I bit back "I am alright, I can do it, I just need to find out something and I think we can even retrieve the Dragon Eye like this"
Both he and Astrid looked at me somewhat curious but in the same time ready to say 'no'.
I let out a breath and told them about the whole ordeal with Johann, then filled Astrid in on the nightmare and Whisperer thing, also about Ryker and Viggo. She was startled about the Dragon Whisperer part but didn't make me crazy or something like that. Afterwards I showed them the marks on my palms even if I really didn't want to, but I thought that maybe it would somewhat help my case. Both were shocked and confused. Worse was that neither of them knew what it was or what it meant.
"I'll find out somehow though" I sighed out and rubbed one of the marks with my thumb "And about the Dragon Eye, I thought that maybe, just maybe, we could get it if we use me as bait? I mean, Ryker said that Viggo wouldn't agree with killing me, right? So that means that I am somehow important to them or at least to Viggo, which is pretty unsettling to be honest, but that's off the point.
"What I am trying to say is, that— what if we go there and demand an exchange, me for the Dragon Eye and after you get the Dragon Eye I will escape" I glanced at Hiccup then at Astrid who didn't seem to agree with the plan but I waved them off "Look, I know it's not perfect, but we have to try. I am feeling good enough and I'll have a weapon or something with me. Plus, I can get a dragon to help me. I'll be fine"
They exchanged a look and turned their attention back to me.
"Anne, I don't think this is a good plan at all. It's way too risky and even if the first part would work, you still haven't recovered, the chances that you'd slip away are very, very small. I am sure it's better if we let it be for now and you go back to Berk. We can get the Dragon Eye another time, all our lives are more important. And we don't even know where they went, we checked the base before we left and it was empty, they simply vanished"
I eyed Hiccup and shook my head slightly "I am sure they're still recovering too right now, and I think I might know someone who can tell us where the hunters are or at least where their home island is. It'd make sense for them to go there to wait for the winter to pass. Viggo definitely won't expect us to go there, don't you think?"
He chewed on the idea as Astrid appeared to be in deep thought. I needed them to agree on this, I felt like it would work, I was sure it would work. And above all I felt like I was close to finding out what was actually going on around here, I could almost touch it with my fingertips but it kept slipping away.
"Maybe you're right. He most likely wouldn't expect it. But still, it's way too risky, especially with your back" Hiccup said and looked at me.
I felt a spark of confidence ignite within me at his words, he was almost convinced, I just needed someone to support my idea, like… I snapped my eyes to Astrid's and straightened up some more.
"My back is fine, I can make it" I turned my gaze to Hiccup's "Seriously, I'm okay. This might be a chance that we won't get in a long while, so why not take it?"
Once again they exchanged glances, silently communicating, then Astrid turned to look at me "We could give it a shot, but if it doesn't work out then no matter what, we all get out of there. Our lives are more important than the Dragon Eye"
My lips curled into a small smile and I gave a nod as Hiccup sighed heavily.
"Alright, when do we leave?"
"Let's talk first with the others and then we decided when we leave and what's the actual plan beside the so said 'exchange' " Hiccup replied.
"And who's this person you were talking about?" Astrid questioned making me grin slightly as I simply said.
"Johann"
Both exchanged a look but didn't press on the matter, and with that we waited for the others to wake up and come to the clubhouse.
It wasn't long until the twins, Snotlout and Fishlegs showed up and as we ate Hiccup and I explained the whole thing. Of course I had to go into more detail about what happened on the ship when I was kidnapped and while I didn't actually like going on and opening up about it to more people, it did somewhat help with convincing them.
So we left to Berk right after we talked the whole plan out. It was important that we would get there before Johann left, and to make sure he wouldn't I sent a Terror mail to Berk while the others got ready.
Liliac remained on the Edge though because there wasn't anyone to ride her and mostly because she was tired and wanted to get some sleep in.
When we got to Berk it was already dusk.
Phantom flew directly to the docks to make sure that Johann was still here and to our great luck he was. So he should've gotten the message from me. Then we headed to Stoick's house to see Hiccup and the others already dismounting and walking to the door after Hiccup.
We could hear laughter from inside so it was safe to assume that Stoick, Johann and maybe Gobber were having a pretty good time.
Hiccup opened the door slowly and walked in, followed by the rest of us, just to be met with the sight of the chief laughing heartily with Gobber and Johann about something. Their laughter quieted down when they saw us and the trader was the first to stand up and come to hug me gently.
"Don't you ever sneak away like that again. It was worse than that time when you hid on my ship, then snook up on me and almost scared the soul out of me and oh for the love of Thor I thought my poor heart stopped when you jumped off and didn't come out of the water–"
I rolled my eyes slightly and cut his retelling off "Johann, I am fine. And you should know by now that I tend to sneak away and disappear for a few days then appear again. I can't stay locked up in a house for too long, it drives me up the wall"
He chuckled a bit and took a step back and give me some space and greet Hiccup and the gang, like Stoick and Gobber did.
After we all made some small talk, I got my attention back to Johann and asked him to come take a walk. He didn't protest and was actually pretty intrigued by what I wanted to talk about, so we both went out of the house. The ones that remained inside didn't ask any questions about why we would leave just like that and it was actually a good thing to be honest.
I closed the door behind, then went to Phantom and grabbed a map from his new saddlebag.
We walked a bit through the village and were close to the port when I decided to question Johann about the Hunters' Island or whatever it was called.
"Uncle… I actually wanted to ask if you know where the hunters' home island is, it's important" with that I came to a halt and unrolled the map, inspecting it as I waited for the trader to reply.
He stayed quiet for a glimpse then spoke carefully "Anne, I really don't think you should venture to such place. The hunters are cruel men that you should definitely stay away from, not talking about the Grimborn brothers, those two could surely make the demons all around look like they're just playing like some cute children" he shuddered a bit as he said it and rubbed his hands anxiously.
I stepped in front of him and looked him in the eyes pleadingly "Johann, please, I've had some questions brewing in my mind for a while and I think that the answers lay within that island. Also I want to retrieve the Dragon Eye, for the sake of all dragons around and ours. Please, only you can help me with this" with that I slowly extended him the map.
The trader kept his gaze glued to mine for a few seconds then glanced down at the map. He didn't say anything for a moment, then grabbed the map a bit hesitantly and exhaled slowly.
"Anne, you have to promise me that if something happens then you're getting out of there, no matter what" he was now looking at me intently "Even if one of the riders gets caught or one of your dragons does. That island is far more dangerous than you can imagine and the people living there are even more so" his tone was grave and it surely wasn't the one of the happy merchant I was used to. This is serious.
I bit the inside of my cheek, musing on the idea, then I gave a small nod.
"Alright, I promise"
He kept looking at me for another glimpse before he side stepped me and began walking to his vessel.
I gazed at him slightly confused but followed nonetheless, hopping in the ship after him. Then I waited next to the table while he searched through a chest and watched him carefully as he pulled out a map, approached me and unrolled it on the table.
"Could you grab a candle from that crate and light it up?" he asked and I did quickly as I was told.
Right as I set the candle on the table, above one of the ends of the map, I noticed that there were different islands on it that I've never seen before. My eyes roamed over every island drawn neatly on the parchment until I found Berk situated around the middle, closer to the bottom left side. Then I moved my gaze to a further northern island that Johann pointed at. It was a rather large one, bigger than Berk and the Edge. It was pretty far too, further than I had ever flew and judging by the looks of it further than the riders ever flew.
"This one. This is their island"
After he told me a bit more about it, he rolled back the map and handed it to me. I thanked him and grabbed it, then we headed back to Stoick's house. All of us talked it out and decided to leave at dawn, so we could get some sleep before we left, and we would get there around midnight or later on.
Which was… kind of convenient in my opinion.
All of us went to their own houses and I headed to mine after I wished all good night. Phantom was equally tired and we couldn't wait to actually get some sleep.
From what Stoick told me, my parents were apparently back, but when I arrived home it was already pretty late so I decided to just sneak inside my room and not wake them up, then sneak away in the morning.
As soon as I laid down in my bed I fell into a deep sleep along with Phantom, clutching the map tightly to my chest.
