Ch.7
On Berk, Valka had started to get nervous; Hiccup had been missing for three days with no trace of him or his dragon. Valka sat gazing into the hearth sipping her tea when Astrid knocked at her door. Valka hadn't been idling waiting for Hiccup to return miraculously but she determined that Astrid, given the proper time and encouragement would find Hiccup in no time at all. "Valka, you there?" Astrid waited nervously for as Valka moved to open the door. "I'm glad you're here, how are you holding up?" Astrid did not feel well, she was not physically ill, but a mental fog-shrouded her thoughts. Astrid stood in the doorway for a moment before stepping inside away from the frigid winter air. It was difficult for Valka as she figured Astrid already knew what she was about to say. That should've made it easier to speak, but it did not. "I'm sorry Astrid, Hiccup hasn't come back yet." At first, there was no reaction from Astrid save an icy calm that overtook her; it was a minute or so later that the full effect began to break thru Astrid's outer shell. She slumped by the fire her emotions washing over her in waves.
"I should've expected this. I knew something was wrong." Astrid thought, mentally kicking herself for not acting faster as she stared into the fire tears rolling down her face. "What do you plan on doing?" Valka asked, did not want Astrid to drown her sorrows. Astrid looked up, wiping the tears from her eyes "I go find Hiccup and help him escape his situation." Valka didn't want to leave anything to chance regarding her son. "Before you fly off to find him, You've no idea what trouble Toothless, and he is in, a few supplies might be useful." Astrid agreed, letting the remark slide before composing herself once more. As she was about to leave Astrid thought of something, "why haven't you gone looking for Hiccup? You've been worried as well." Astrid asked before she thought about the effect it may have on Valka. Thankfully, Valka seemed unbothered by the question, even going so far as to smile. "Astrid, if Hiccup is indeed in trouble, there is little Cloudjumper or I could do. I haven't picked up an ax in over 20 years. What good would I be?" It was the better of the two possible answers she could've given Astrid, the second being; performing Hiccup's duties in his absence. Astrid sighed defeated, and was soon busily gathering supplies in preparation to rescue Hiccup.
Meanwhile, Stormfly had sought out Cloudjumper in need of a favor. "If I can get Cloudjumper's help, things will go a lot smoother." Stormfly believed Cloudjumper to be Toothless's mentor. She thought he might be willing to help if necessary. She found the Stormcutter asleep in the stables and most displeased at being disturbed. "Cloudjumper?" "Can it wait?" the sleeping dragon asked without even opening an eye. "It's about Toothless" Stormfly assumed this would carry some weight with Cloudjumper—she was mistaken. "What do you want me to do? I'm not responsible for that rambunctious twenty-year-old. Has he done something?" Cloudjumper asked cautiously opening an eye. "Astrid is worried about Hiccup's whereabouts." The Stormcutter grumbled and moved to a more comfortable sitting position. "Ugh, it's always something with that Viking. Does he ever stay out of trouble?" Cloudjumper said frustrated. "Afraid not. He's acted like as long as I've known him, he used to be a lot worse, or so I've heard." Stormfly replied. This caused the Stormcutter to shake his head in dismay "I can believe that Stormfly, I really can." Stormfly chuckled before reminding Cloudjumper of the topic at hand. "Why should Hiccup's whereabouts concern me? Has something befallen Toothless?" Cloudjumper asked trying to make sense of her otherwise pointless interruption of his sleep. "I doubt it; Toothless is a very capable dragon. However, he won't stop trying to find Hiccup." Stormfly wasn't sure how true this was, but it worked. "Within reason, of course, Toothless does seem to be an energetic Night Fury with a protective nature." Stormfly chuckled again. "What did you want me to do?" he was glad she finally got to the point. "Just make sure the other dragons don't do anything that would need Toothless to intervene—or at least ensure the Vikings don't notice." Cloudjumper agreed "That sounds easy, and a bit fun if I need to divert attention somehow, stay well Stormfly." With that parting comment, the Cloudjumper now fully awake, left to find a quick meal.
"Stormfly?" Astrid had finished her preparations but lost her dragon, She'd turned around to find Stormfly gone and no clues to her location, sighing she doubled checked her supplies. When she turned around again, Stormfly was waiting by her saddle. "I'm losing my mind," Astrid thought, "Come on girl let's get this on you." "Where should we start? Which direction should we check first?" Stormfly knew that Astrid would prefer to stay out of the ice-laden thunderstorm that'd passed over Berk awhile ago. She veered left instead of right upon leaving Berk. This decision would prove to be very dull indeed—for the most part. Several boring islands later, the pair landed on an island lacking any special significance. "You see if there is Anything visible from the air Stormfly, I'll stay down here and look" Stormfly squawked and flew off, while Astrid set off into a cluster of trees hoping to cover more ground with Stormfly looking from above and herself on the ground.
About an hour later, she scaled a fallen tree landing with a soft thump on the mossy ground—only to look up and see a singular1 of Boars glaring at her. She stiffened, while not nearly as lethal as dragons, a group could still inflict serious injury on a Viking. One of the Boars charged but was swiftly struck down by the fallen tree, Astrid having dodged the Boar at the last moment. This action aggravated the remaining Boar2 forcing Astrid to run. She did not care that the path she chose could lead her to a dead trial ended several minutes later at a rock ledge that lined a sizable waterfall; the Boars stopped—Astrid did not. She quickly distanced herself by moving further out onto the narrow ledge. "Odin, that was too close." When her heart rate slowed, she took stock of her situation, and it wasn't looking in her favor.
As she took in her situation, she wondered how far up she'd gone attempting to escape the singular of Boar. She looked down, and was bolt upright a second later. "Oh gosh, don't look down." It was a long drop of which the bottom could not be glimpsed, mist and foam from the waterfall saw to that. She looked down again while catching the remainder of the breath she'd lost escaping the Boars. This time she noticed it was a steep drop complete with jagged rocks and little fuzzy green bushes to hit on the way down; The rising mist from the waterfall coated everything making the fall seem even more treacherous and fatal than it already was. That was when she heard it—the foundation under her feet was giving way, within moments the ledge was no more. Astrid found she couldn't hear herself screaming, but she could feel it—it terrified her. She also couldn't hear the roar and crash of the waterfall; in fact, she couldn't hear anything. Time seemed to have slowed down, She craned her head a few degrees and saw the water droplets in the waterfall almost as if frozen in time. She tasted the salt on her lips and felt the abrasiveness of the salt in the mist rising from the waterfall when it contacted with her skin. Her body had slowed to match her surroundings as well; movement was slow and uncoordinated. She craned her head to peer up at the sky a second or two later, but it felt like hours since she moved. She looked only to see a black shape slowly descending on her. It's winged appearance blotting out the sun as it drew in close—two sets3 of claws came into focus talons outstretched, Astrid's eyes widened in a panic. Abruptly the moment ended. Her ears were immediately overwhelmed by the roar and crash of the waterfall, Stormfly latched her claws securely around her rider's upper limbs and carried her up and away from the jagged depths of the waterfall. Astrid also felt the crispiness of her throat demanding attention. "Must've been the screaming." She thought she dared not speak yet.
"Thank you. You're the best Stormfly." Astrid said hoarsely once she'd successfully forced a sentence out. The Deadly Nadder squawked happily at the compliment. Astrid's heart beat like a drum in her ears for several minutes afterward. When the pounding of her heart had ceased to be in her head, she decided it was time to get back in the saddle. "Okay girl, you know what to do" Stormfly squawked and swung Astrid forward letting go, her momentum keeping her suspended for a fraction of a second as Stormfly quickly adjusted her flight pattern. Astrid plopped right into her saddle, unharmed. "Good girl; that trick I taught you was actually useful." Astrid patted her dragon. "Let's head back to Berk; I'm allotted one near-death experience per day." She joked, "We'll have better luck tomorrow I'm sure" and then with less enthusiasm she added "Nobody can ever know about this, I would never hear the end of it."
1 Singular—group of wild Boar(s)
2 Boar—plural form, also can be Boars.
3 I know it may be confusing but it sounds better this way.