Chapter Fifty-Three: Painful news

Hiccup just looked at George before he turned towards his two friends.

"Care to explain what in the gods name I have missed while I was out? What is HE doing here?" he asked irritated and dropped his dirty cloth on his sleeping place.

Josh shrugged.

"You'd be surprised but it was Toothless who insisted that he'd come with us." Hiccup looked at George doubtfully. "Why would he do that?" he asked.

George growled. "I don't know. I just know that your damn beast wouldn't let go off me and carried me off into the night."

"Carried you off?" Hiccup asked. "Who steered his tail?"

"That would've been me." Josh said and grinned.

"We had to strip you to Zhangs back so he could carry you and there was no room left. We also figured that you wouldn't like it very much if we'd leave Toothless with this maniac behind." Kate explained shortly while pointing at George.

"How do you know how it works?" Hiccup asked astonished. Josh shrugged. "Well, I didn't. Not really and it wasn't as smooth as when you're flying him but when I was still flying with you on Toothless, I saw how you steered the tail and kinda memorized it." He explained and brushed of some limpets off his cloth.

"It was one hell of a ride." George complained.

"We may or may not have nearly crashed a few dozen times." Josh admitted and grinned. "It was awesome."

Hiccup shook his head.

"You never cease to amaze me." He mumbled before he sat down.

George looked at him annoyed.

"So why did you kidnap me?" he asked angrily and clenched his fists. Hiccup noticed he was unarmed. Apparently George didn't like that.

"I didn't do anything." Hiccup mumbled and pocked the dirt with a stick.

"So why did your beast kidnap me?" George asked through clenched teeth.

"I don't know and I'm as happy about it as you are." Hiccup said bluntly before turning away from the older boy.

While they were bickering Kate had continued cleaning the bird they had caught and was now roasting it over the campfire.

The smell of food was suddenly so overwhelming that Hiccup shortly forgot George and wondered when the last time was that he properly ate and not just the bitter tasting cabbage that Hamish had served them.

"Oh my goodness, what is that?" he asked and eyed the bird hungrily.

Josh laughed. "That my dear friend is a pheasant. A delicious bird! Don't tell me you've never tasted some!"

Hiccup shook his head.

"Never seen them before. On Berk we were more in sheep and yaks and chicken. Sometimes rabbits and deer too, and fish of course."

George snored.

"You barbarians and your ignorance. Pheasant is probably the most delicious thing in the whole world."

Hiccup rolled with his eyes. "Thank you. If I wanted your opinion I would have asked."

He swept a few bangs of hair aside and moved the logs in the fire with his bare hands.

He heard George hiss and looked up.

His eyes were even harder and colder. His mouth twisted into a snarl.

"You're a slave? That makes things even better!" he laughed darkly and stood up. He eyed Hiccup from head to toe. "You will bring me back this instant! And after that I will sell you to the Slave-Lands." George snorted again. "You, a slave, want to save the world? People like you are there to clean stables but not to travel the world. Let alone have any power."

He'd barely finished when Josh had a knife pressed against his throat and hissed: "Be careful what you say next maggot! This is my friend we're talking about. My little brother! If you don't want to end as food for the wild animals you better shut your mouth right now!"

Kate looked equally furious.

"Why are you defending him? According to the international convention concerning slaves he is the property of whoever claims him first. I claim him if you don't."

With an anguished war-cry Kate pinned him to the ground her curved hunting knifes only millimeters away from his twitching eyes.

"One more word useless and I take your eyesight!" she hissed.

"Kate let it be. Let him get up." Hiccup said calmly. She didn't look happy about it but she obeyed.

George stumbled to his feet. "How can you listen to him?" he asked disgusted.

Hiccup slowly rose.

"Because they chose too. They didn't bother that someone burned some stupid sign into my forehead. Nobody has the right to play down the worth of someone's life, especially not, if they don't know that person.

And I honestly don't understand how people can assume that one little mark can take somebody's will to live and his thirst for justice." He paused. He pointed at his forehead. "This is not a burden, this is no curse. This is a chance. A chance to show that nobody is worthless. It could have been you, who could have been marked by two enraged strangers."

His tone was icy cold and calm.

George looked as if his head was going to implode any moment. His neck had swollen to twice its usual size and he growled: "I've never heard more bullshit in all of my life!" "Maybe. But I certainly won't bow to a fate that was decided by airheads hundreds of years ago."

He sat down back again and said: "Let's continue eating."

George stayed surprisingly quiet the rest of the early afternoon while they ate.

After lunch Hiccup lay down all his maps and the three friends bowed their heads over them. George sat across from them under a tree and watched them.

Hiccup ignored him. He would think about getting rid of him later.

"Alright" he said and took out a pencil and marked a small island that belonged to a group of islands "We are here." He marked the place with a little cross. "And here is Port East." He marked the island that lay like abandoned in the vats ocean the only next coast being Talkin.

Around said nation Hiccup painted a circle and wrote the word 'barricade' before he sat back down on his heels.

"Talkin, Durgonheim and Kinkal are the last nations to visit. But from what Kate said Talkin will be…difficult." Hiccup mumbled and his eyes danced across the map.

"Very hard. It's like they want nothing to do with anybody from the outside." Kate said, shuddering when she remembered her crash with Nightlight.

George snorted.

The three teens looked up.

"Got something to say?" Josh growled.

"Actually yes." George got up and walked over to them. "You can forget your little peace-talk with Talkin. No-one's been there for ten years now. They completely shut down. Getting out is difficult. Getting it is impossible. Those ships you saw Kate, they are forming a ring around the whole nation. They are made from very light but fire-proof metal and they are armed to their teeth."

"But why?" Hiccup wondered.

"As if you don't know." George growled and sat down with crossed legs.

"No, we don't." Kate said. "Please, enlighten us."

"The revolution. Don't say that didn't reach you!" He now sounded really surprised. Again they shook their heads.

Georges glared at the map.

"Those bastards. They actually managed to keep it a secret."

"Keep what a secret?" Hiccup asked, trying not to sound impatient.

"Ten years ago, when I was seven years old and had just started my training, three big ships from Talkin came to Port East and recruited every available young man. With them good friends of mine. They told us there were some harmless conflicts but that they would need more men to keep it down and restore order again. We didn't think much about it. It wasn't the first time such things happened."

George slowly touched the line Hiccup had drawn.

"Two weeks later we saw huge clouds of black smoke rise into the sky. And the next morning the fisher spotted the barricade. Those stupid enough tried to get close to find out what was happening. They were shot and their ships destroyed as soon as they were in shooting distance." Then he added more quiet but without any emotion: "I never knew what happened to my friends. They could be still alive, they could be dead." He looked up at their anticipated faces.

"And how do you know what's going on over there?" Kate asked.

George laughed humorously.

"One actually made it out. He cleverly tricked them into believe he was now working with them on the ship. Then one night he stole one of their underwater-crafts and fled.

But he died a few weeks later in Port East because of all the stress he had. His heart just couldn't take it anymore.

But he did tell us so much: The late King Harry was killed by his oldest son Andrew when he decided not to give him all but only part of his Kingdome to rule when he died. The rest of Talkin should go to his younger brother Edward.

Well, after he had killed his father Andrew of course tried to take his brother down but he fled and hid together with those he could gather around him.

Now there is a full blown civil war going on between the two brethren. The barricade keeps anyone from interfering and anyone from leaving. It was Andrews idea.

We don't know how bad things are over there and what actually is happening and we always hoped someone would interfere at one point. But judging by what you said no one has the slightest clue what's going on." He sounded bitter.

Hiccup eyed him sharply.

"There's more to it, isn't it? This isn't the whole story." He guessed. George looked at him annoyed. "It is the whole story." "But something's bothering you." "What are you? A mind-reader? I said that was all." Hiccup just raised an eyebrow.

George sighed annoyed and said. "Well, there's this one thing no one understands." "And that would be?" Kate asked.

George looked at her.

"Andrew always was a kind-hearted person. He couldn't hurt a single living breathing thing. He loved his family more than anything and he even said himself that dividing the Kingdome would be a good idea. So no one understands why he killed his father all of a sudden and is now hunting his little brother." "Sounds like you knew him." Josh observed. "Not really. But we met. Before things went bad."

There was an uneasy silence.

"Why didn't you do anything? Called for help for example?" Josh asked critically.

George glared at him.

"If you didn't realize it dragon boy, we are stuck on that island. We have no boats, the beasts always destroy them when we make new. And we can't fly ergo there is no way of communicating with the rest of the world."

"I'm sure you had certain visitors over the years!" Kate said. "I know people from my land had plans going to Port East."

"And how many of those have come back?" George said coldly. "These are dangerous times and dangerous waters. Those who make it here are few and they usually are killed or are lost or what-not. So no, no communicating with other nations. Most of them knew we had a few problems and decided to leave us alone with it for a while. And after a while people started to forget about us." Kate looked at him doubtfully.

"How can you forget something like Port East?"

"It's Darkness." Hiccup suddenly said, interrupting their conversation.

He's been thinking about Georges story for the last minutes and tried to fit the puzzle-pieces together.

"What?" the other three asked in unison.

"It's Darkness, I'm sure. Hamish told me that it'd been influencing the world of men for years already. Planting dark thoughts in their brains, waking their deepest desires and biggest fears." He shook his head.

"Those weren't Andrew's actions. At least not his alone."

"Hiccup, just stop for a second and start from the beginning. What did Hamish tell you? Are talking about your conversation when you and him were alone?" Kate asked.

Hiccup nodded and told them everything. From his dream-meeting with Darkness(though he again let out the part about Illiona) and his conversation with Hamish as well as the horrible truth that Hamish had been a bad guy.

When he finished there was a moment of stunned and horrified silence.

Until Josh broke it.

"Just wait a second. You and the chief were related?" Josh asked.

Hiccup faced him with an exasperated face.

"Is that all you remembered from what I've just told you?" "No of course not. The chief was evil, that's why the dragons were attacking and it's your ancestors fault that we're on this mission right now. Now tell me, were you two really related?"

Hiccup groaned. "Yes. Hamish was named after his uncle Hamish the First who is my great-great-great-great-grand-something-father, who was Hiccup the Seconds brother and became chief instead of him when they banished Hiccup the Second. Well, we're not really related seeing that Hiccup the Second wasn't really Hamish's ancestor. He was the step-dad of one of the original sons and gave them new names when they were still babies before he had his own children, who inherited the right to rule…but that's all pretty complicated and not really important right now!"

"Well, I think it's important. You never find new family every day." "Josh please, let's concentrate on the really important things now and on my crazy far-away extended family later!" "Okay."

George spoke up.

"That is impossible. I've never heard of such things. You're making this up. You're just as nuts as your ancestors."

Now it was Hiccups time to look annoyed at him. He hated it when people called him a liar.

He put one hand into the blazing fire. "Well, suck it up, because this is supposed to be impossible and nuts too and yet I'm doing it and my hands not crispy meat."

"Hamish wouldn't do that. He just wanted justice for what was done to his family." George denied and glared at Hiccup.

"You have no right to accuse him of such things!" "I have every right because it's the truth!" "Proof it!"

Hiccup sighed. "I can't. He's dead, we are gone and Darkness has retreaded somewhere were not even the gods know what it's going and planning."

"Then I won't believe a single word of yours."

"I never said you had to. It's your choice. I won't tell you what to believe. I can open your eyes for the truth. But if you actually see and agree with it, is up to you."

He had enough of Georges face for one day.

"He turned to look at Kate and Josh.

"Do you think we should risk it?"

Kate looked uncertain for the first time.

"Hiccup…last time I crashed and Nightlight was hurt. Besides, where is the point in talking to them about war if they have their own war to fight? Who would even listen? And what if we are stuck there too? I'm sorry Hiccup. Usually I'm all about dangerous and risks but not this time." She said truthfully and looked down, afraid to look into his eyes.

He smiled slightly.

"Kate, look at me." She did. "That's why I asked. So you can say your personal opinion. And there nothing wrong with it. You have to stand behind what you say and not be afraid of it."

He looked at Josh.

"And you, big brother?" he joked.

Josh sighed. "To be honest, I don't like it either. I share Kates opinion. But" he smiled a bit "if you go there like a headless chicken I would probably follow just to make sure you're save."

Kate nodded. "Yeah me too. And then, when I'm sure you're safe, I would kick your ass." Hiccup nodded and got up.

"I'll go for a little walk." "Don't go alone. We don't know what's out there." Kate warned and wanted to get up too but Hiccup shook his head and whistled.

Toothless, who had just awoken from his nice nap, got to his feet and lazily walked over to Hiccup.

He scratched the dragon behind his big ears and Toothless got a blissful expression on his face, his mouth slightly open and eyes rolled up.

"What do you say about a little walk through these woods bud?" he asked the dragon.

Eagerly like a little puppy Toothless started to jump up and down and ran ahead before turning around giving Hiccup a look that could say: "What are you waiting for slowpoke?"

Hiccup looked at Kate. "See, the perfect bodyguard." She nodded. "Just be back before it stars getting dark." "Yes mom." "Shut up!"

Laughing Hiccup walked away, giving them one last wave with his hand.

(…)

There were mostly pine-trees on the island, so the thick smell of pine-needles and resin. The day had been nicely warm but the heat was trapped underneath the thick tree-tops.

Their steps were muffled on the thick floor by moss and pine-needles.

Hiccup breathe the air deeply and tried to remember when the last time was that he'd smelled pines this intensive.

He couldn't really remember.

Al that had happened on Berk seemed so far away all of a sudden. Nearly sixteen years he'd spend there and now he couldn't even remember details. He knew what the village looked like, his house and his room, Gobber forge but the faces of the other villagers slowly blurred together. He couldn't even remember what his aunts' eye-color was.

He sighed and kicked a stone away.

Even his fathers' face started to lose its sharp appearance. He'd been gone for a while now. The picture of Stoick the Vast slowly disappeared in the mist and left his only son with a headache when he tried to remember.

He hadn't always been a bad father. But to be honest back then his mother had been alive or Hiccup hadn't turned into a runt yet.

He sighed. He wanted to remember. They were one f the reasons why he kept going. Even if they had made his live a living hell very often, there were also people like Gobber for example who had tried at least to make live better for him.

And no one on this planet deserved it to be killed or overthrown by Darkness.

Hiccup leaned against a tree and stared ahead. He could see the sea through the maze of trees. Like a thin blue line behind white-sand shores.

"To be honest I wish I could just quit and never bother with this again. I mean, come on. We can't go to Talkin, Durgonheim doesn't like dragons and Kinkal is a desert without any dragons. What are our chances anyway? I've achieved nothing. Odin was right." He told Toothless as he picked up a fir cone and threw it away.

Toothless gave him a bump in the shoulder and shook his big head.

"You think?" Hiccup asked and looked into those green orbs.

Toothless nodded.

Hiccup sighed.

"I sometimes really wished I could talk to you. Hiccup the Second could. Lofin gave him the ability to understand you guys. At least that's what King George told me." Hiccup shook his head. "Another guy names George. Does it run in the name that those guys always mean trouble and are thickheaded idiots?" Toothless did his version of a laugh.

"But I can't even be sure about that" Hiccup continued, staring ahead of himself "I mean, he didn't tell me anything about Hiccup the Second, what he did and so. He left me in the dark. Literally."

Toothless nudged him in the side and growled.

"Okay okay, no more dark thoughts for today, I promise!"

As he got up again he petted Toothless head.

"You know. I think I understand you pretty well, even without knowing your language."

They continued walking, when suddenly something hit Hiccup in the head.

He flinched and mumbled: "Ah!" It was a fir cone.

Where had that come from? It had not fallen from a tree, he was sure.

He picked it up and looked in the direction from where it had come from.

Tenderly he threw it back and waited.

He didn't have to wait long.

The very same fir cone he'd just thrown away. He was sure.

"What the hell?" he whispered and looked at Toothless, who looked equally surprised.

He turned his head in time to see another fir cone coming his way.

He caught it with his hands and frowned.

Big mistake.

If Toothless hadn't pushed him aside, he would have been hit by volley of fir cones.

They both dived aside.

"Whoa!" Hiccup exclaimed and peered around the tree. "What was that?" Toothless made a noise that probably meant: "Hell if I knew…"

Hiccup again peered around the tree-trunk and tried to see who was 'attacking' them.

There was nobody. Not on the ground, not hiding behind tress and not in the trees.

He stared harder, trying to find something and then…he saw something move in the bushes about ten meters away.

It didn't look too big but Hiccup knew that you didn't have to be big to be dangerous. (See terrible Terror and Tuffnut)

And then the thing jumped out of the bushes.

Hiccup nearly laughed when he saw what it was.

"It is a Terrible Terror." He whispered to Toothless.

Said Terror was flying just inches above the ground holding anther fir cone in his front paws. "But how does he throw them?" he wondered.

The question was answered when he peered to far around the tree and the Terror spotted him.

He squawked but it sounded delighted and with its tail it hit the fir cone out of its waiting hands and it sailed through the air and nearly hit Hiccup in the head if he hadn't ducked.

"Okay, so that's how he is doing it. But why?" he wondered and picked up the fir cone.

The Terror squawked again and jumped up and down.

Hiccups eyes wandered from the Terror to the fir cone and back.

"Oh…ahm, alright." He said when he understood and tossed back to the little dragons.

The little dragon caught it and threw it back.

Now it was Hiccups turn to catch and throw back.

It probably went like this for another three times and the Terror seemed delighted.

"Of course, I remember!" Hiccup exclaimed as he caught yet again the fir cone. "It's the terrors way of socializing. They throw thing! I read about it Hiccups the seconds book." He told Toothless who just looked at him with an expression that clearly said: "You've lost it completely, haven't you?"

Suddenly the Terror stopped throwing the cone and came flying over to him.

He hovered in front of Hiccups face before he gently dropped the cone in his lap and even more gently…bit into Hiccups nose!

It didn't hurt but Hiccup was so surprised he fell backwards and the little Terror landed on his chest.

The dragon purred loudly and starred at Hiccup with huge eyes.

"So biting into each other's nose is also a way to say you're my friend?" he wondered and carefully picked the dragon up and held him in front of him.

The bright yellow and blue little dragon looked at him expectantly.

Hiccup understood and looked at Toothless.

"Please tell me he doesn't want me to bit his nose!"

Toothless eyes were the size of plates and Hiccup had the strange feeling the dragon tried to hide a grin.

"Stupid dragon." Hiccup growled before he very carefully bit the Terrors nose himself.

The small dragon squealed in huge excitement, flatbed with its wings and settled down on Hiccups head and burrowed its claws in his hair.

A bit unsteady Hiccup got to his feet.

"Great, looks like we have another member." Hiccup sighed as he realized that there was no way the dragon was going to let go of him.

"Since you're going to be part of the team you should have a name. So I will call you…Cone. To honor who we became friends." He said dryly and nudged Toothless in the shoulder. "Come on buddy, let's get going again."

Hiccups neck stiffened more and more as he walked through the wood, parallel to the beach. Who would've thought that Terrors could be this heavy?

But it had something strangely calming.

When the sun was just over its highest point Hiccup decided to walk back.

He took his boots off and walked through the sand.

He kept his gaze down so he heard it before he saw it.

"Suck it up you lazy maggots or I'll have your heart as dinner tonight!"

The voice was rough and bellowed with a strangely familiar accent.

He dived behind the trees and Cone squawked indignantly as he was rudely awoken from his nap on Hiccups head.

Toothless too had followed his rider and now three sets of eyes looked at what lay ahead of them.

A ship had been dragged ashore by the tides and a group of people stood on the beach with their gleaming war-axes in hand and flushed faces, looking like they were ready to jump at each other's throat.

Hiccups heart and throat tightened.

And Toothless growled low and dangerously.

"Get going you worthless nutshells! Or I'll feed you to the sharks!" A man with a hook for a hand bellowed again.

He'd barely changed.

Black beard and hair, all stiff with dirt and uncombed. Scars all over his face, nearly eight feet tall and as broad as a bear. Hands the size of Hiccups face. Only his cloth had changes. Gone were the bear-cap, the long tunic, the chain-mail and the vast belt. Instead he wore plain breeches and a very wide black shirt and boots.

You couldn't possible tell what nationally he was, until he spoke.

This rough and harsh talking and the swallowing of sibyls could only be found on Outcast-Island in the Archipelago.

It was Alvin the Treacherous.

Hiccups heart pounded wildly. He'd known all along that he would bump into the Outcast-leader again.

But now was a really bad moment.

"You go and look of anything to eat on this godforsaken island. And you keep working on the ship. And you will make something to eat right now!" commanded Alvin through gritted teeth.

As he moved his right hand with the hook instead of a hand, the sun reflected in the polished metal and blended Hiccup in the eye.

He fell backwards into some bushes and the rustle was loud enough to attract the Vikings attention.

"Check that out. Maybe it's something to eat. And if it's some stupid native, kill him." Alvin growled.

Hiccup panicked. He grabbed Cone, jumped on Toothless' back and hissed: "Go Toothless, run!"

Toothless didn't need any encouragement. He started running and to Hiccups big dismay he heard one of the Outcasts behind him shout: "Yo! It's that dragon boy. It Stoick's runt and his dragon!"

Hiccup cursed and urged Toothless to go faster.

He burst back into camp, shouting: "Grab your stuff, the Outcast are here and they saw me, hurry!"

He slid down from Toothless' back and started throwing his stuff into the saddlebags and threw water over the fire and dragged Kate up, who was still sitting confused by the fire.

"Hiccup, slow down! Who is here?" she asked as he dragged her over to Nightlight and shoved her belongings into her arms.

"The Outcasts. Alvin. The ship I sat on fire, you remember?" he said breathlessly and picked up shoved Josh over to Zhang.

"I'll explain later but they could be here any minute! Mount up!"

As if to strengthen his point they could hear loud shouting coming from the woods.

Kate rolled her eyes as she jumped onto her dragons back.

"Only you could manage to get into trouble on a deserted island. Is there anybody in the whole world who isn't mad at you?" she asked as she adjusted the reins and straps of her saddle.

"You?" Hiccup suggested with a small grin.

"Don't bet on it Haddock!" she said and gave Nightlight the signal to fly.

Zhang already hovered over the ground.

George was the last one standing.

Hiccup didn't like him. He really didn't but that didn't mean he would leave him to Alvin's mercy.

"Come on George, what are you waiting for?" George shook his head. "You can't honestly believe that I let you abduct me again, do you?" "I'm offering to save your live you idiot. Now come on!" "No!" "George if you stay Alvin will torture and kill you just for the sake of it! He will want to know what you have to do with me and where I'm going. And he won't believe you if you say that you don't know! They are Outcasts for a reason." He hissed and extended his hand to help George up.

"Now are you coming or are you not?"

George took a step back and said: "No! I can fend for my own!"

That was when the first cross bolt hit his upper arm.

George cried out in surprise and pain and stumbled backwards. Hiccup cursed and pulled Toothless upwards and out of the cross bolts reach.

He saw George on the ground, trying to get up but another bolt had imbedded itself in his calf.

Outcast now nearly had reached the clearing.

Hiccup saw another one raise his cross bow.

"Toothless dive!" he screamed and the dragon plunged down head first with the wings pressed to his side.

In the last second he opened his wings again, caught his fall and Hiccup managed to grab Georges color and heaved him in one swift motion on Toothless back.

"Hang on!" he screamed and switched the tails position into upwards and they shot straight up.

George hung on Hiccup for dear life, shouting profanities into his ear that would make Gobber blush.

But the rescue had gone perfectly fine.

Once they were flying above the ocean, Hiccup straightened up and slowed down.

George too managed to sit down and hold on to something different then Hiccups shoulders.

Zhang and Nightlight joined them on either side and Kate glared at them. They both flinched.

"What was that?" she asked. Josh just grinned. "Dude, that was intense!" "It was reckless!" Kate argued. "It was mind blowing." Josh shot back." "It was stupid."

"And it was exactly what we needed." Hiccup interrupted them.

They just started at him but he dropped the topic and explained what had happened.

Cone just curled himself around Hiccups shoulders and went back to sleep.

The sun was already rising again when Hiccup was sure that that on the horizon was not a very big and dark cloud.

They'd been flying non-stop since the early evening of the previous day, leaving the shelter of the Southern Sea and the great big East behind, crossing the equator the first time, since his not so subtle flight with Kate from Derandolia, and were now headed for the driest place in all of Midgard. A supposedly dragon-free area.

"Ladies and Gents, welcome to Kinkal." He said darkly.

"How much further do you think it is?" Josh asked, squinting his eyes. Hiccup shrugged. "Hard to say."

"We won't make it there before early noon. We might as well just go down and search for somewhere to rest. I think we made a good distance between us and those Outcasts!" George suggested. He probably wouldn't admit it but he looked ready to drop.

During their flight Hiccup had helped him treat his wounds but they probably still hurt like hell.

"Over there." Kate said and pointed at an island no bigger than the one they'd fled from. It seemed to be just a rock in the sea but caves could be found anywhere.

"Let's go then." Hiccup told them and went into a dive.

George would never admit it but he felt lost.

And hurt.

And cold.

He'd never been away from home and as much as he hated it there most of the time; now being so far away in a part of a world he'd only heard about, made him homesick.

His leg and arm throbbed and it was cold.

Also something he didn't understand. They were a stone-throw away from the hottest and driest place on earth and yet it was freezing cold.

They had found a cave and that stupid Haddock had made a fire out of nothing. Now they all curled up under the wings of their beasts and ate whatever that Josh guy had made out of what head found in his bags.

George sat aside from all this and just starred at them.

They joked around like good friends, despite what had happened hours earlier.

Hiccup was also reading in a thick book and had his maps all around him while his black devil purred like an overgrown cat.

He rubbed his arms.

Damn he was cold.

But of course he didn't have the chance to grab his belongings when he was abducted by that beast.

Suddenly there was someone standing in front of him.

It was Kate. She smiled tenderly at him and he tried to smile at her too but his face was too cold.

She held a blanket and a bowl in her hands and said silently: "I thought you might want to warm up a bit." "Thank you." Kate sighed and looked back at the fire. "Look, I know you don't agree with us and what we do, but why don't you join us at the fire. It's a lot warmer there." "No thanks. I'm not going anywhere near your beasts." She sighed again. "Well, you can always come." "I don't think they would want me with them." George said stiffly and nodded at Hiccup and Josh, who were throwing small stones at each other.

Kate giggled.

"Hiccup wouldn't have saved your live yesterday if he wouldn't want to give you a chance. That's the great thing about Hiccup. He gives you a chance."

"I didn't ask him to save my life and I certainly didn't ask him to try and befriend me." Kate shrugged.

"If that's how you think, then I won't try to change your mind."

She stood up again and her reddish-blond hair gleamed in the fire-light. Her green eyes looked were soft as grass.

"But I can tell you he will try to become your friend. It would be at least so like him!"

She started to walk back to the fire and George didn't stop her.

Instead he ate and then curled up against the ride of the cave in the blanket and tried to get some sleep.

AN: Hey guys! First of all I want to give you a huge thank you for the amazing reviews you gave my story. It's just incredible who much you seem to like it :-D

Well, there is still something I have to say and that would be:

I have to do a really big big big project for school that counts as much as one assignment in my biology high levels. So that means I will be doing lots of school stuff and probably not so much writing so don't wonder if you don't hear so much from me in next time! I'm sorry but you have to agree. Right now school comes (sadly) before writing.

Especially since I'm graduation next year.

Scary thought to be honest.

Well, see you around,

Love Kate