That day was the anniversary of the death of his father. He still blamed himself after one year, if he had just listened to his father instead of insisting that changing the mind of Drago Bludvist. Hiccup opened his closed his eyes and let out a frustrated grunt, he would not gain anything from lying in bed and blaming himself all day, besides, he was chief now, he had a responsibility. He rolled out of bed and Toothless was with him instantly. They always started their day with flying since he rarely had time for it in the middle of the day after becoming chief. Hiccup was dressed in record time and left his hut with his dragon. His mother was often up early too but he hoped to get past her for a change, not in the mood for others sorrow yet. The death of Stoic the Vast had been a hard blow for the village and Hiccup still doubted that he would ever be able to live up to the name of his old man.
Toothless roared joyously as Hiccup crawled on his back and motioned for his dragon to take flight. Hiccup knew that the dragon missed flying longer trips and he wished he could be less busy and fly Toothless for hours, especially since the dragon only was able to fly with him on its back. Another thing to feel guilty about, it looked out to be a wonderful day! Hiccup let out a breath of frustration and closed his busy mind to focus on the freedom he felt, being on the back of his dragon.
Instead of flying directly home after their flight, Hiccup decided to stop by the cove for a swim. This swim never happened, for as they landed, Hiccup spotted a figure passed out by the edge of the water. Walking closer, he noticed that it was a girl, she was dressed in nothing but a strange looking shirt as far as he could see and she had scratches and blood all over her legs and arms. He knelt down next to her, she was still breathing but not conscious.
"Look like we won't swim today, bud." Hiccup said to the dragon as he picked up the unconscious girl, she was ice-cold. "We should have Gothi take a look at her and clean her scratches… Time to return to reality." With a sigh, he carried her to the dragon and flew back to the village.
He had told me this later when we grew closer. Had chuckled and said that I actually improved his day by giving him something other than his father to think off.
After passing out, I had woken up in a completely dark cave. There was no sign of the statue, and the humming, pain, and what else had accompanied it was gone as well. Puzzled I scrambled to my feet and felt my way out of the cave. It was completely dark outside and incredibly cold as I was only dressed in my underwear and shirt. I buttoned the shirt so it at least gave a bit more warmth. As I emerged from the cave, I went to look for my clothes but they were nowhere in sight. Scared and cold I decided to make my way back to the beach where we stayed. I made my way through the forest but lost my way a couple of times. The forest looked completely different in the dark and being barefooted I fell and hurt myself countless times.
I was already pretty beat up and filled with scratches when I finally found my way out of the forest. As I stepped out between the trees, I almost screamed. Nothing made any sense at all. In front of me stood hut after hut, some of them with lights in their windows and others turned off for the night. Dragons were resting on the roofs and music could be heard from the Meade Hall where drunken men - dressed in leathers, wearing metal helmets, and sporting giant beards - stumbled home from. I longed for the heat emitting from the stone building, but I turned around, I needed to get back, I thought to myself that I must be hallucinating. Perhaps the water in the cove had been poisoned or something, it was after swimming there that I saw all kinds of weird things.
This time I ran through the forest, I ripped the sleeves on my shirt and fell over and over until I was bleeding from countless wounds on my legs, arms, feet, and hands. I did not care about that, I just needed to get home. When I finally reached the cove again I ran to the cave. The statue was still not there so I went back out and jumped in the water fully dressed. Completely drenched I returned to the cave again but still no statue. By that point I was shivering, bleeding, and crying in desperation. I felt so completely hopeless when I left the cave again. I screamed into the night and collapsed on the ground, soon everything went black again.
Hiccup later told me that I was passed out for more than 24 hours. In that time the village was humming with talk about who I could be and where I was from. People tried to come up with explanations for an almost naked girl being found all beaten up. Hiccup told me he had told a little white lie and said that he had found me on a small uninhabited island instead of on Berk. He did not need people to accuse me of being an enemy before I had healed and he had interrogated me.
Eventually I did wake up. When I opened my eyes it was light outside, I felt warm and safe for a change. My false sense of security quickly faded away though, as I looked around and realised that I was inside one of those huts that should not even exist. Either I was being pranked, I was hallucinating, or I had actually been send more than thousand years back in time. With the last one being completely impossible and the first one being too unrealistic, I figured I must be hallucinating. I sat up in bed slowly, my entire body was still hurting but I could not deal with laying there another second. I needed some sort of answers. I looked over my body, it appeared that I was still wearing my underwear, but except for that, I was dressed in a white nightgown. I took some calming breaths to keep myself from hyperventilating, it all seemed so real, perhaps had travelled back in time? No it would not make any sense at all.
The door was opened and a young man stepped in, he was thin but looked strong, had a nice face, soft green eyes and auburn hair. In other words, he was pretty attractive. He met my eyes and gave me a warm smile. Sitting down on a chair next to my bed, he handed me a plate with some cheese and bread on it.
"I was hoping you would be awake by now," he said, "you shouldn't get up yet though, you were pretty beaten up when I found you." I just kept staring at him. He was wearing some sort of armour with all these hooks and handles, yet he obviously did not come from my time. I started to really consider if it was possible, being sent back in time. "Soooo, um, I need you to tell me who you are." He spoke again as I still kept quiet.
"Astrid," I replied in a low murmur, "my name is Astrid Hofferson… Thank you for saving me. I-eh… Where am I?"
"You're on the Isle of Berk. And no need to thank me, I couldn't just leave a hurt woman like that." He smiled again and stood up. "I need to get going, I will get our healer – Gothi – to take a look at you. You should eat and get some rest, I will come back later." With that he stood up and left me by myself.
I ate what he had given me and soon after a small old lady showed up, accompanied by a girl who looked about my age. The old lady walked over to me and pushed the blanket out of her way before she started examining my wounds without asking. I tried pulling my leg away from her but she just grabbed it, she was stronger than she looked.
"I apologise on behalf of Gothi, she's our healer but she doesn't speak. Let her examine your wounds, she won't hurt you." The girl said. I looked her over and gave in to the old lady, letting her poke around while I turned all of my attention on the girl.
"My name's Heather, Hiccup asked me to go check on you together with Gothi. How are you feeling?" She had this atmosphere about her that made me like her instantly, somewhat like the man from earlier, Hiccup I presumed. Heather was a lot different though, she almost seemed like she could be from my time, at least a more modern time than this.
"I don't really know… My head is still hurting and I am so confused. I think my entire universe has been turned upside down and I don't know how I should react to anything." I looked at the ceiling, taking a few controlled breathes before looking back. "My name is Astrid by the way."
"You have a nice name Astrid, are you feeling better physically?"
"Thank you, uh, you too… And yes I am, I am sore but after having had something to eat and such, I feel a lot better. Thank you."
"No need to thank me." Heather smiled at me again and soon she and Gothi left me.
I heard them lock the door after themselves. Figures I was being held here so they could get some answers. Not having anything to do to pass time, I laid back down and went back to sleep. I dreamed of my childhood, of my grandfather telling me tales and me drinking a cup of hot chocolate.