Hey, guys! Sorry for not updating until now. I was cooking. I was cooking a lot with like, five minute breaks in between recipes, so I had time to do...THIS. :D *gestures to chapter* Enjoy chapter 3! :D
"Looks like a storm's brewing," Hiccup mused, licking one of his fingers and putting it up over his head, feeling the heavy wind brush against it. "Those clouds sure look promising."
Astrid, Hiccup, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs and Avril all looked in the direction of the dark, heavy thunder clouds that looked ought to burst in all the storm's mighty fury at any given moment in the world.
"We should go tell the others," said Astrid, turning back to face Hiccup. "We don't know when it'll be here, but it doesn't look too far off, now does it?"
"No it doesn't," said Hiccup. "And with the heavy winds, it shouldn't be too long." He turned around to assess his students. "Come on," he said. "We're heading back to the village."
...
The villagers were already battening down the hatches, preparing themselves for the storm to come. They were running around the village like mad, gathering resources to store in some of the storehouses to use as long as the storm persisted.
Hiccup and the other dragon riders landed in front of the Great Hall and dismounted. They raced forward in the direction of the building and stopped in front of it. Stoick was giving orders to villagers as the wind picked up dramatically.
"Hiccup," said Stoick, "make sure everyone gets inside."
Hiccup nodded with a quick "On it" and then mounted Toothless again, heading back to the academy to see if Snotlout had returned or not. While Stoick gave instructions to the other dragon riders and villagers, they raced off to do it quickly.
Once Astrid was assigned to a certain task, she looked at Avril. "You get into the Great Hall," she said. "Stay there until I get back, okay?"
Avril nodded quick while Astrid turned and ran off. The young three-year-old started climbing the steps leading up to the Great Hall, her mind set on doing as her sister had told her to. But just as her hand moved to open the door, she stopped, her fingers hovering over the handle.
Come... The wind seemed to be whispering to her in a soothing voice. Avril turned around slowly, trying to see where it was coming from, but she heard nothing. She turned around once more, her back to wherever the voice came from, but then she heard it a second time; this time, more cleared and slightly louder.
Come...little children... The sweet sounding voice spoke. She couldn't make out a gender; it could have been a boy, or it could have also been a girl, but there was no way Avril could have figured it out.
Don't...be shhhhhhhhyyy... The voice whispered to Avril once more. Come! Come!
Avril looked around, trying to find out where the voice was coming from; but none of the other villagers were even looking at her, and none of them appeared to hear the voice. Avril was too little to realize the danger that the voice could have brought, so she did the only thing she knew what to do.
She responded.
"Where do I come?" she whispered.
She didn't get an answer. The voice just kept whispering, Come, little children...come...now, don't be...sssshhhhhhy.
Avril, not knowing what else she was supposed to do, followed the voice. Everyone was too frantic and busy to notice the three-year-old walking into the woods, her eyes set on the area in front of her, her ears tuned to pick up the mysterious voices.
Come... The voices hissed through the wind. Avril continued to walk, feeling uneasy all the same. Then, all at once, the noises stopped. She looked around, and found herself in one of the only clearings on Raven Point. She turned in a full circle, and then was just about to head back to the village, when she heard a THUMP.
It came from directly behind her and towered over her, the shadow bigger than the Great Hall itself. Avril turned around slowly, her eyes widening, and then she screamed bloody murder.
...
Astrid was panicking the minute she found her little sister missing. She had at first thought that the child had gone to play with Stormfly again, but the Nadder was helping the dragons and villagers get ready for the storm that laid ahead.
"Avril?" Astrid spun in a circle, her eyes searching for her sister. "Avril!" she shouted.
As if on cue, Toothless swooped down and landed directly in front of Astrid, allowing his rider to dismount.
"Astrid!" Hiccup shouted, running towards her. "Where's Avril?"
"I don't know!" Astrid shouted in response. "Maybe she wandered off, or...maybe...maybe something happened, or...she's gone, Hiccup! Either way, she's missing! What am I supposed to do!?"
"Get inside," said Hiccup. "I'll take Toothless and look for her."
"You can't!" said Fishlegs, overhearing the conversation and rushing up to the two dragon riders. "There's lightning, and now it's raining! You can't expect Toothless to be able to fly in conditions like that! You'll be killed!"
"So will Avril if she's left out there alone," said Hiccup. "And she's only three. Get inside, both of you. Help the others, don't follow me!"
"Hiccup wait!" Astrid shouted. "I'm coming with you."
"No you're not!" said Hiccup.
"But she's my sister!" said Astrid. "I have to find her!"
"You can't, Astrid," said Hiccup. "I don't want you getting hurt!"
"Do you ever think that maybe I feel the same way about you!?" said Astrid.
"Astrid, when I bring Avril back, she's going to need someone to be strong for her," said Hiccup. "She's going to need her sister. But she can't have her sister, if she's injured!"
Hiccup re-mounted his dragon without another word, looked one last time at Astrid's shocked expression, and the Night Fury was soon airborne.
As much as Astrid wanted to follow him, she didn't. If he couldn't find Avril, no one could. Besides, he was right. Avril would need her when hiccup brought her back.
But she still couldn't help but worry a bit.