Chapter 25: In From The Cold

"Whoah whoah whoah, how do you know he's still missing?" Hiccup asked.

"I don't, but if none of you have seen him since yesterday, then there's a pretty good chance. The only place I haven't checked yet is the forge." Astrid replied.

"You went to his house already?"

"Earlier today. Long story. How much time do you think we have?"

Hiccup thought for a moment, briefly gauging the wind speed. "If it's that far out…2 hours maybe? 3 tops."

"It's winter though, so the sun will be setting in 2 hours anyway." Fishlegs chimed in. "If that happens it'll be a hell of a lot harder to find him than it is now."

"Ok…ok." Astrid's mind worked overtime to come up with a plan on the fly. Time was wasting. "Everyone fly home and bundle up. We'll meet at the forge as soon as possible. If he's not there…if he's not there then we'll have to go over the ocean."

"Pray to Thor the wind doesn't pick up too fast." Hiccup warned, rushing to mount Toothless. "I'll see you two over there."

The remaining teens nodded and headed for their own dragons, panic in their movements. The search was on.

"There's no one here." Hiccup said grimly, stepping out from inside the forge. "Not even Gobber."

"How far could he have possibly fucking gone?" Astrid swore under her breath, the full weight that Arkyn was indeed not on the island setting in.

Hiccup put a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. We'll find him." He found it a little out of character that she seemed to be caring so much. Astrid was, after all, the one who threatened to push him off a cliff when he disappeared the first time.

"Dead or alive?" She responded coldly. "There's no time for comfort. We have to go to the sea stacks. You coming, Fishlegs?"

"Of course. He's my friend, too." The Ingerman replied. "Let's go."

It'd been about 40 minutes since the 3 teens left the Great Hall when they arrived at the sea stacks they used to practice. Landing on the typical landing sight, it was easy to see that this place was just as deserted as the previous one.

"Not here either." Astrid said, dismounting from Stormfly and surveying the rock formations before her. "What options does that even leave?"

"We haven't gone west yet." Fishlegs suggested.

"That's because there is nothing to the west. Past Berk's shore it's just open ocean for as far as we've explored." Astrid reminded him.

Hiccup spoke next. "In that case, the next closest thing to here is the island chain, and even that's at least a 15 minute flight."

"And the first one is 30 minutes back home." Fishlegs remembered. "We probably wouldn't even have time to make it all the way there before the blizzard passed it. It would chase us all the way home."

"We have to try." Astrid sounded confident but Fishlegs didn't look so sure.

"I don't know how much longer Meatlug and I can stay out here." He admitted. "She's got the smallest wings of any of our dragons, which means when the wind picks up it tires her out the quickest. I'm worried if we go any further she'll run out of energy before we can make it back."

"So what, you're leaving?" The girl made it sound like he'd suggested they all commit war crimes. Fishlegs stared back at her blankly, ashamed to feel incapable next to his friends' dragons, but he knew his fears could easily be realized.

"Fine." The girl finally conceded. "I'll see you on Berk."

He looked hurt as he turned to mount his dragon, never wanting to let anyone down like this. "Fly safe. Don't both of you go missing, too." And with that he took off in the direction of home, leaving Hiccup and Astrid standing together on the stone platform.

"Looks like it's just you and me then." Hiccup smiled, remembering their days in dragon training. "Except this time you're the one who can't bail."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Let's just go. Now we're down an hour and a rider."

It was not long after this that the pair started their journey to the island chain, praying they'd find who they were looking for once they finally arrived.

"Careful, Astrid! It's really close now." Hiccup called out to the rider in front of him, the island in sight at last.

"Why thank you, Hiccup. I didn't notice." Astrid's sarcasm was on full display as the two stared at the wall of white in front of them. They were nearly at the edge of the madness when they guided their dragons over the beaches of the landmass below, both splitting off in either direction to scan the area.

The wind howled across Astrid's unblinking face as she glued her eyes to the terrain, looking for anything out of the ordinary. A black suit, a yellow tail, anything… It was especially discouraging as this island wasn't that big, and the girl was on her third consecutive circle before she finally regrouped with Hiccup again.

"Astrid!" Hiccup spoke directly, heightened urgency in his voice. "The blizzard's too close now. Toothless and I can't fly in all this wind, especially with his false tail! We have to go back home and stay safe."

"Maybe you have to. I still have some work to do." Astrid shot back, not keen on what he had to say.

The boy's expression receded ever so slightly. "Look. You know I want to find Arkyn just as much as you do, but there's no way that I'm letting you fly alone out here under these conditions. Staying together is the only option."

"I'm perfectly capable of handling myself, thank you very much."

"And so is Arkyn. If we wait it out and search again in the morning then there's no doubt in my mind we'll find him, that is, if he hasn't made it to Berk by the time we get back."

Astrid thought for a moment, still not wanting to concede. Her mind only began to change when the first snowflakes started to cascade from the sky, sticking to her face and chilling her skin. "And you're sure about this?" She asked timidly, needing the confirmation from her friend that everything would be ok.

Hiccup nodded, almost pleading to her with his eyes. "First thing in the morning if he isn't here, I'll come get you. We haven't lost yet, but we can't do anymore looking if we're buried under 4 feet of snow." He flashed a small smile. "We need to get home safely."

The final straw for the girl was when Stormfly squawked angrily, informing her rider that she was uncomfortable with the weather. With that, Astrid knew Hiccup was right. "After you." She said quietly. "Let's go home."

Hiccup released a sigh of relief and quickly pointed Toothless in the direction of Berk, leading the pair out of the storm and into calmer skies for the trip back to the island. Although he feared for Arkyn and hated to leave a man behind, they would be safe…Astrid would be safe, and that's what mattered to Hiccup the most in that moment. His thoughts remained trained on the girl behind him as Hiccup cut quietly through the snow, Toothless softly panting underneath him.

Arkyn wheezed out icy breaths as snow filled his lungs, coating his throat with an uncomfortable slickness. After what had seemed like 3 days of flying through the white out blizzard (although in reality it had been closer to 3 hours), Berk finally came into view on the horizon, its watch towers only visible because of the fires lit in their chambers. The Viking praised every name he knew that home was this close. When he'd left the island that morning this damned storm was the last thing he expected he'd encounter, but somehow the situation ended up being even more sinister than his wildest imaginations.

The boy's gloves were meant for combat rather than the cold, and his frozen hands gripped Stinger's harness weakly as they went numb. Unfortunately for him, the rest of Arkyn's figure was equally underdressed for the weather. Gusts of wind passed through him as they blustered around his person, tossing Stinger to one side or the other every so often. He was overtaken by exhaustion, and his eyelids drooped as he clung to his dragon as closely as possible.

Luckily Arkyn's house was not far, and a short while later the pair descended shakily towards the rear of the small structure. Upon landing, Arkyn hoisted the bag he'd brought back from his flight off of the Triplestryke and stumbled towards his door, turning the handle and pushing to allow him entry.

Something was wrong though. The door wouldn't budge, which was odd because it hadn't been locked. Frustrated, Arkyn dropped the bag and pressed his full weight upon the wooden plank, trying his hardest to force it wide. Under normal circumstances this might have worked, but not with how the boy was feeling now. Taking a step back, Arkyn suddenly figured out why he was struggling: A thick sheet of ice had wrapped it's way around the seams of the door, freezing in the sub-zero temperatures and killing any hope the Viking still had of getting inside.

"FUCK!" Arkyn swore as loudly as he pleased, falling to his knees next to the bag he set down earlier. The cold wrapped its tight embrace around him as he knelt in the ever growing pile of snow. He couldn't stay like this much longer.

What to do now?

Astrid sat by her fireplace and stared out the back window. The blizzard had been raging over Berk for a little more than an hour now, and the threat of the heavy snow causing cave-ins on several older buildings had called the girl's parents away for assistance. A warm glow from the flames illuminated the sitting room and kept the space at a surprisingly cozy temperature.

There had still been no signs of Arkyn.

Astrid's mind raced as she tensely gripped the arms of her chair, the emptiness of the house around her looming like suffocation. She supposed this is what it must feel like to be him, only she had grown tired of the silence after such a short time and Arkyn had to wake up and live his hell every single day. A new level of this understanding had been reached.

To try and rip her thoughts from all the things that might have happened to the boy, Astrid tentatively stood up and moved into the kitchen to put on some tea, thinking a drink might help.

She hadn't left her chair for more than 3 seconds before a black and yellow flash streaked by the window that her eyes were glued to just moments before. A momentous crash was heard outside as whatever the thing was evidently hit the ground.

The girl froze mid step, not really knowing what to do. This didn't last long, however.

BANG!

A loud thud on the door snapped the girl out of her pause and replaced her confusion with mild apprehension. What in Thor's name could make a sound like that?

BANG!

Astrid stepped slowly towards the door, grabbing her axe on the way.

BANG!

"Ok that's it!" She audibly spoke to herself and raised her axe, flinging the door open and preparing to fight the perpetrator.

Lo and behold, there stood Stinger on Astrid's back doorstep. A scarily broken looking Arkyn stood weakly beneath the dragon, his hands full with a bag that was swung over his shoulder. It immediately became clear that the Triplestryke had been the one knocking, the concussive sounds being the result of its armored head. There was frost all through Arkyn's eyebrows and hair that made it look as though winter herself had used her hands to chill his soul.

"What the fuck, Arkyn!?" Astrid blurted, a thousand questions filling her mind all at once. "Are you ok?!"

Arkyn responded with the slightest nod as he looked up at the shocked yet beautiful girl in the doorway, vapor falling from his lips as he spoke to her, each word a struggle to produce. "M- my d- door was frozen over." He stuttered, defeated. "A- Astrid I… I don't feel so well."

Alarm bells were ringing impossibly loud in Astrid's head. She'd been worried sick about him…hell, he'd been missing all day! However, she had indeed noticed his condition and stepped into the snow to bring him inside. "Are you crazy? Don't you know how long I spent looking for you? And what the hell is in that bag?"

This time Arkyn responded by promptly passing out, the cold finally winning and overtaking his senses. His knees went weak in the process, leaving him a disheveled heap on the ground, Stinger poking nervously at his stagnant figure.

"Shit!" Astrid screamed, rushing into action. She hooked her right arm underneath Arkyn's shoulders and around his torso while her left hand closed around his precious cargo, a mere afterthought in the present moment. The girl grunted as she had to physically drag him through the snow and up the steps to her house, his boots leaving a bare patch behind as they slid through the powder.

Once inside, Astrid immediately ditched the bag and slammed the door shut, quickly hauling the other teen towards the still bright fire before moving frantically to secure several furs from the sitting room. She wrapped the furs around him the best she could and dropped to the floor, taking Arkyn with her. As she lay by the fire, Astrid held Arkyn's body close to hers, his head coming to rest upon her stomach. The girl muttered fast prayers to Odin in an urgent tone as she warmed the boy up, hoping he would regain consciousness soon.

Once she'd exhausted herself, Astrid leaned her head back and looked straight up at the ceiling, panting after her surprising recent display of exertion. Arkyn's head rose and fell as she breathed, and the girl then realized how tightly she was still clinging to him. The fear that he'd been lost slowly dissipated as Astrid calmed her nerves, beginning to feel more relaxed as she laid there with the boy, the fire crackling softly beside them.

Minutes seemed like hours as she stayed like this, checking Arkyn's pulse every so often to make sure he hadn't ended up freezing to death. Astrid soon became satisfied he was stabilizing and went back to enjoying the closeness, secretly glad her parents hadn't been home for all of this. She'd likely have to explain to them what Arkyn was doing in her living room eventually, but that was future Astrid's problem. For now they were alone.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when the bag she'd brought in shifted under its own weight and fell loosely to one side, allowing her to see some of the contents inside. This was accompanied by a sound similar to that of a rattle a small child might play with. She couldn't tell what might be inside from her spot by the fire, so alas, Astrid's curiosity got the better of her and she reluctantly left her nest under the furs before making sure Arkyn remained comfortable and walking over to the object by the door.

"So you're the stupid thing that was worth getting us all so worried for…" she muttered aloud, tilting the bag upright again and picking out one of the pieces that rested in the fabric.

"What the fu…"

Astrid examined the object carefully as she whispered to herself, not yet being able to determine exactly what it was. The thing appeared blank white in color, was about the size of a small plate, seemed decently heavy, felt hard as a rock, and was round…ish. Several imperfections and chips dotted its surface, creating an irregular shape in the process.

Wondering what else may be in the bag, Astrid loosened the string at the top as far as it would go and opened wide, only to be just as bewildered with the rest of the contents. Inside lay easily 100 more similarly shaped objects- and absolutely nothing else.

"Well great." The girl sighed. "That dork risked his life for a bunch of useless stones." She tossed the one she was holding back in the bag and began to walk back towards the fire before turning on her heel to face the sack once again, a realization coming over her as she remembered a past conversation.

They weren't stones, they were scales. Screaming Death scales to be exact. Arkyn had done exactly what he previously suggested and flown back to where the beast now settled, evidently harvesting some of what remained of its exoskeleton. Why he would do such a thing alone was beyond her, but nothing could be done about that now. No wonder it took him all day…that island was far. Much farther than she and Hiccup would have been able to search. The blizzard had likely jumped him before he even knew one was brewing. No one could have prepared for something of that magnitude.

Needing some time to process all that'd happened in the last 3 hours, an exhausted Astrid finally made her way back into the sitting room for good and took one last look at the boy passed out on her floor. Electing not to disturb Arkyn any further, the girl got her own furs and set up a makeshift bed next to where he was sleeping so that she would be there in case he woke up.

Promptly slipping under the covers, it wasn't long before Astrid herself drifted into a state of unconsciousness, the noise of the fire eventually driving out the last of her jumbled emotions.

"Thank Thor it finally stopped snowing." Freya remarked to her husband as they approached their house, trudging through several inches of the precipitate.

"Let's just be thankful we didn't lose the storehouse." Riftan replied. The man was in a slightly surly mood after the work he'd done to protect the building had given him a sore shoulder. "Astrid best be asleep. It's late." He said idly, leading Freya up the stairs and opening the front door.

It had been dark for several hours at this point, but the slowly dying fire in the sitting room still illuminated the space. Something was off though…2 extra shapes could be seen laying splayed out on the floor, and Riftan had to rub his eyes to figure out what they were. "What in Odin's fury is he doing here?"

"Ah, so that's what Arkyn looks like up close…"

"This is nonsense. I'm waking them up."

"Riftan! You will do no such thing." Freya quickly jumped to defend them. "Astrid's asleep. That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

The man grumbled as he realized the irony. She got him… "I won't have them sleeping together like this in my house!"

Much to his surprise, Freya laughed. "Goodness darling, don't you remember when we were that age? If that was the goal they would have done it already, and it certainly wouldn't have been in our sitting room." Her husband looked damn near irate. "Besides, they're hardly together. The rascals aren't even touching each other."

"And what reward do you seek for leaving them alone? Does this phase you not? I needn't remind you that you've never formally met this lad."

"If this lad gives me reason not to trust him then I shan't, but I don't see anything wrong here. They're just resting for gods sakes. The boy lost both his parents. How much better do you think he'll turn out if we break their peace and tell him that he can't have the last meaningful connection to someone available to him?"

Riftan sighed heavily, dragging a hand down his face. He'd always appreciated his wife's ever sound reasoning. It kept him a grounded man, but sometimes it went against what he felt was his better judgment. He slowly spoke once more "I suppose there is a certain responsibility on us now. Whatever the reason, our daughter picked him."

Freya smiled. "I knew your head could level out. Now, if you've calmed down enough, we must get some rest ourselves. The explanation can wait until morning."

The man nodded, taking one last look at the pair of teens before slowly and quietly following his wife to their bedroom. He feared he was in for a sleepless night, nothing left to think about except what his daughter might be getting herself into.