Chapter 4:
Hiccup awoke rather early the next morning to find Arkyn still asleep. Still not knowing much about the new teen was starting to weigh on him, but he hadn't hurt anyone yet, so Hiccup figured when he was ready to talk, he'd start talking. Hiccup quickly coaxed Toothless out of his slumber and started to get ready for the day. He had decided last night that he was going to skip this morning's routine flight in order to try and catch Astrid on her way to the arena. Finally ready to leave, Hiccup and Toothless began walking down the hill from their house towards the rest of the town.
Things had been strange between Hiccup and Astrid since the defeat of the Red Death. After he had recovered from his injury, Astrid had openly kissed him in front of almost the entire town, but had never told him or anyone else anything more official. They were still really good friends. Sometimes they flew together, complained about their parents, etc. but Hiccup couldn't help wondering how close he was to something more. He was too afraid to ask where they stood, worrying it might ruin what they had right now. After all, Hiccup did practically lose a limb for their friendship. As he was walking, he decided he would never understand girls and just decided to ride this one out.
Hiccup passed the forge and rounded the corner at the end of the road that led towards the arena. It was here he bumped into the very girl he was looking for. "Astrid! Hey…" He stuttered, still slightly uncomfortable with himself around her. "Crazy stuff yesterday, am I right?"
Astrid flashed him a quick smile as she looked up at him but then it faded and she furrowed her brow. "It just doesn't make any sense…" she told him. "A kid our age from a tribe we know nothing about crash lands on our island and tells us he's from 'Nowhere.' What's that even supposed to mean?"
"Haven't quite figured that out yet myself." Hiccup responded. "Last night we just ate dinner and he collapsed into a super deep sleep. He was still like that when I left my house this morning."
"Did you find out what was in the second trunk?"
"Astrid…you heard him. We may not know exactly who he is but that doesn't give us the right to poke through his only possessions…"
"Damn…I was thinking there might have been a clue." She sounded frustrated, as if it was a puzzle she had been trying to solve since yesterday. "Hey…" Astrid went on.
"Hmm?"
"Did you find it weird that he didn't seem afraid of meeting our dragons at all? Every other tribe we know of has been battling with dragons for centuries. Arkyn should have been terrified of Berk's atmosphere."
Hiccup thought for a moment. "Maybe people just have really open minds where he comes from. He clearly thinks that us having dragons is interesting. You heard him yourself."
"I know, his whole character just seems a little off to me though. What do you think gave him that head injury?"
"Thor knows…" Hiccup exclaimed. It was all very confusing to him as well. Hiccup decided to change the subject, and began to formulate a quick plan to try and learn more about Astrid's feelings for him. "You still have to feed Stormfly, right?"
"Yep. I was just on my way to the arena when you ran into me. It took some convincing, but I think my parents have finally come around to the idea of letting Stormfly stay at our house, so if all goes well then last night should be her final one in the stables down there." Astrid told him excitedly.
"That's great!" Hiccup encouraged, and taking advantage of her good mood and lots of courage from himself, he grabbed her hand in his own for the rest of their walk down to the arena. Hiccup prayed to Odin himself she wouldn't take it away, and much to his surprise, Astrid looked down at their joined fingers, relaxed hers slightly, and met his gaze once more. "Shall we?" He questioned, and off they went.
—
It wasn't until mid day that Arkyn finally woke up. After such a long rest he was feeling much better than he did yesterday and his head was no longer throbbing. Carefully, he got out of his makeshift bed and looked around Hiccup's room. He was gone. Actually, the whole house was empty; the Chief was out taking care of his duties. Frowning to himself, Arkyn gently unwrapped the bandages from his head and gave his hair a quick wash in Hiccup's basin. Putting on his boots and gloves, he was almost ready to leave the house in search of Hiccup and his friends when a different idea flew into his head. It wasn't a great one, but if he was ever going to feel comfortable enough to tell the others more about himself then it had to be done.
Arkyn grabbed a paper and quill and began to write a note. He was designing a sort of character test based on things he had to learn back home. The first person to know the truth about him would have to want it enough to earn it, and if that were the case they'd have to beat him at his own game. Once Arkyn had finished, he hid the note somewhere in Hiccup's house, walked out the back door, and slipped into the woods.
—
Back in the arena, all of Berk's dragon riders had once again gathered to spend the day together. They had been so busy talking about yesterday's strange arrival that it had taken them quite a while to realize he wasn't there with them. Surprisingly, Snotlout was the first one to bring up the issue, somehow being aware of the absence of the mysterious teen. "Guys? Has anyone else noticed that as we sit here talking about Arkyn, he hasn't come back to meet us all day? We gave him a tour of the town just yesterday…surely he can find his way around. WHERE in Thor's name IS HE?" the large boy screamed. The rest of his friends shot alarming looks at him after his loud outburst.
"Haven't you heard? He's nowhere." Astrid giggled, rolling here eyes. "According to Hiccup he came down with a case of perpetual sleep disorder." Her words left Snotlout very unamused.
"Well I can imagine how traveling who knows how long over the open sea with no food or method of control could be exhausting…he's probably just really tired." Fishlegs offered.
"Maybe he was carried off by the Boneknapper." Tuffnut snickered. His twin elbowed him and spoke up with her own opinion. "You can't possibly still believe that dragon exists! I agree with Fishlegs on this one." The two twins had been debating this topic for quite some time now, and almost all the other teens knew Ruff had only agreed with Legs because she had a massive crush on him, something only Fishlegs himself lacked knowledge of.
Hiccup finally spoke up. "Come on everyone…calm down, will you? If you're all so worried about where he is why don't we just all go up to my house and check on him for Thor's sake. Happy now?" They nodded their agreement. "It's settled then. Let's get this over with." And everyone exited the agreement to begin the short walk up to the Haddock household.
Once there, Hiccup knocked on the door before opening it slowly and walking in. The house was silent for all he could tell, but that didn't mean it was empty. He called out Arkyn's name but got no response, so he led his friends upstairs to his room and stepped cautiously inside. He let out a gasp at the sight that met him. "He's gone…" Was all Hiccup could say before the worry set in.
