6 An Astrid By Any Other Name

It was a long wait for Astrid who was more accustomed to stalking rather than hiding and so her impatience finally took over and she decided to seek out her marks rather than await their arrival. She felt sure that Fotherington would not notice her departure (and indeed he did not) as she slipped away down the hill towards the lower tree line from where she could observe the men who climbed the hill before her. There were nine of them in this group but she could not see if the others were at the bottom of the hill or if they had been sent around the other side to cut off any escape.

"Spread out and look for anything out of the ordinary" the leader of the men ordered.

Astrid considered her options as the men moved closer on either side of her. Fleeing to one side seemed like the most obvious action but she soon realized that it was completely unnecessary as each man began stumbling around, kicking rocks and looking around tree trunks. Astrid decided that if these men were this clumsy, then she would just need to maneuver herself quietly between two of them and hide the in the undergrowth as they moved uphill. She fell in behind them after they had passed and trailed them back to the top of the hill again where Fotherington waited in his tree.

"Found anything?" the leader called out.

"There's nothing here to find sir" one of them replied "only that old camp fire but who knows how long that's been there."

Fotherington shook his head in disgust. These men may not have had his training, but anyone should be able to see that the fire was only about a week old from its smell alone.

"Right then; let's give it another five minutes of searching and then we'll head back and tell the general that if these flying creatures were here, they most likely would have returned to the north."

This was not what Astrid wanted to hear and so she decided to do something about it while she still had the chance.

'Sorry Hiccup' she thought to herself 'but if this works then it may be our fastest way out of here.'

Knowing that her time was short, Astrid moved quickly taking off her shoulder armor and hiding it silently. She then slipped quietly around to the southern side of the upper tree line picking wildflowers as she moved. When she had gathered a quaint little bunch and was far enough down the hill, she stood up and made her way back to the top while humming a feminine air. All of the men on the hilltop ceased their searching for clues and turned in the direction of the female voice.

"Oh… hello" Astrid feigned surprise as she stepped out of the bushes "are you the men on the flying beasts?"

"No we're not" the leader looked at Astrid suspiciously as his men moved to surround her "you know about these invaders do you?"

"Well… not much" Astrid lied "only what people say about them."

The leader of the group grinned at the man by his side. If they could take back any kind of information at all then there was a higher chance of reward and a lesser chance of being shouted at.

"What is your name young lady and why are you here?"

"My err… name is Rose and I've only come here to leave these flowers as a peace offering to the Sky Riders."

"An offering?" the man looked puzzled "What for?"

"Well they must be very powerful people and so we want to be on their good side."

"Have you seen them Rose?" he asked.

Astrid's thoughts spun as she quickly considered what she should say. It needed to be something that would keep Elydonia from being invaded or suspected but would not cause trouble for Berk either.

"I um… saw something but I can't say if it was them or not because… err… they were very high; as high as the clouds" she hoped this would satisfy the man.

"I would appreciate anything you could tell me about what you saw Rose."

The best way that Astrid could think of to throw these men off the trail would be to mix some of the truth in with a few ounces of misdirection for good measure.

"I'm told they were first seen a few weeks ago when they flew in from the southwest and ever since then, they have been seen coming and going from this hill in all directions. First to the north, then to the south and a few days ago someone saw them depart to the east and that was the last time they were seen."

"So they didn't come from the north?" the man verified.

"No, the southwest… from over the ocean" Astrid could not help but smile at her deception. Now if anyone went looking for the Dragon Riders, they would end up hundreds of miles from Berk and nowhere near Elydonia.

The leader of the men called some of his companions into a huddle and Astrid listened closely as they whispered. She pretended to be waiting patiently, so as not to let on that she could hear some of what they were saying but what she heard made her curse under her breath. The leader had decided to take Astrid with them back to the capital so that the General could interrogate her further if he so desired. She considered slipping away into the trees but could not escape the thought of what may happen if her story was not believed; Mistrust between Elydonia and New Loren, accusations and maybe even war.

"You will accompany us back to the capital and tell your story to General Karoc" the leader declared firmly when the men had finished their discussion.

"Oh I'm afraid that I can't do that" she declared "I must head home as soon as I am done here."

"And I'm afraid that I must insist. If the General is satisfied with your story then you will be released."

"No, I'm serious" Astrid decided to do a little insisting of her own "I've got a wedding to go to."

"Is it your wedding my dear?"

"Well… no but…"

"Then it will have to go on without you" the leader signaled to the men behind Astrid and they grabbed her roughly.

A tree branch to the right rustled briefly in an obvious sign to anyone with half a brain that there was somebody hiding in it but none of the men noticed at all.

"Unbelievable" Astrid sighed as the men hurried her away.

As soon as they were out of sight, Fotherington dropped down from his hiding place and took off down the hill in the opposite direction. High above the hill and slightly to the south, three dragons circled slowly while Hiccup kept a close eye through his spyglass.

"It looks like they're leaving" he informed Sigrid "although it's hard to see at this distance, I think they've all gone."

"Hiccup, who's that coming down the southern slope?" Sigrid asked.

"Err… I think it Fothers" he replied "but I don't see Astrid with him."

The dragons swooped down half way to the ground so that the hill was well positioned between them and the men descending on the other side.

"How did it go Fothers?" Hiccup asked as Toothless landed on the side of the hill.

"Y-your friend, they've taken her back to the capital" he panted.

"They found Astrid?" Hiccup was surprised.

"She exposed herself" Fotherington declared.

"I beg your pardon?" Sigrid was even more surprised.

"It's true. She just walked out of the undergrowth carrying some wildflowers and pretending to be a local girl. She had remover her metal shoulder armor and was calling herself Rose" the observant Fotherington informed them all.

"Now why would she do that?" Hiccup pondered "she must have had a reason."

"Let me think" Fotherington closed his eyes and concentrated as he recalled everything that had transpired on the hilltop.

"They emerged from the trees… there were nine of them. The leader told them to search the area but they missed everything except the campfire. Someone deduced that you must have retuned north… and soon after I heard her singing… no she was humming and then she appeared from the other side of the clearing with her flowers pretending to be surprised upon finding the men there."

"That explains it" Hiccup nodded "so what did she tell them?"

"They asked her what she knew and she said it was very little, but she did say that you were seen coming from the southwest and that you had flown to the north first. Then she said you were seen flying to the south before finally disappearing in the east. The head man then insisted that she return with them for further questioning but she said that she had a wedding to go to. They took her anyway."

Hiccup turned to speak with Sigrid and noticed that Victor was still seated on Toothless and was as white as a sheet.

"Ah… you can get off now if you want" he informed the boy.

"WHAT? Oh… yes" Victor only noticed at that point, that they were safely on the ground once more.

"Astrid must have been trying to direct their attention away from… you know where" Hiccup whispered to Sigrid.

"We've got to get her back before they arrive at the capital" Sigrid noted "she doesn't have enough local knowledge to bluff her way through a formal interrogation."

"Right; let's go" Hiccup agreed "See ya later Fothers; don't be a stranger."

"Wait a minute; we can help."

Hiccup and Sigrid looked at each as they both contemplated what they were going to do.

"If we attack them to get Astrid back, this will all have been for nothing" Sigrid noted.

"Alright then" Hiccup sighed "come on Victor."

"Oh damn" Victor cursed as he got back on the dragon. It wasn't Toothless that he didn't like; he just wasn't used to flying yet.

On Fotherington's suggestion, they first returned to their wagon that was still hidden a short distance away from the bottom of the hill.

"We'll be back in a minute" Fotherington called out as he dropped down from Skywolf.

He and Victor ran into the back of the wagon and shut the door. Hiccup and Sigrid looked on in confusion as the small wooden vehicle rocked slightly for a short time before Victor emerged looking very different. His hair was slicked back and he wore much smarter clothes but it was Fotherington who had the Dragon Riders worried. He now wore a long tailed jacket and carried a long satchel and a pair of crutches.

"What are they for?" Hiccup asked as Fotherington climbed back onto Skywolf behind Sigrid.

"These are for you" Fotherington grinned in a way that Hiccup did not like.