Hiccup groaned as he came to, every inch of his body aching and sore. Still, pushing past the pain, he slowly pushed himself upwards from the sandy beach, wincing slightly as his fingers cut against the splintered wood.
Splintered wood.
He snapped to attention, taking stock of his surroundings. He was on the shore of a relatively small island, all things considered. The sand was littered with the scattered remains of a broken fishing boat, the mast torn during the storm before.
"Great. Just perfect," grumbled the Chief of New Berk, getting up from where he sat, as he recalled the events before; what was supposed to be a quiet, peaceful fishing trip where he could spend time with his family, had turned into an emergency situation when an unexpected storm had hit, causing the ship to crash, while the heavy winds tossed everyone on it to who-knows-where.
That was annoying. It wasn't something he'd never experienced before; Aegir knows he'd been stranded on unknown islands before, far too many times to count. He knew to remain calm in his current situation.
What he was more concerned about, however, were the whereabouts of the others. Hiccup cupped his hands together in front of his mouth, as he called.
"ASTRID! ZEPHYR! NUFFINK!" He shouted into the air. Nothing. Okay, now he was worried.
He took a step forwards, then felt an uncomfortable tingle up his spine. He looked down at his leg, an unrecognisably mangled piece of metal by now.
Right, Hiccup thought. First things first, getting a new leg.
Astrid chopped away at the bushes surrounding the clearing where she'd woken up, tossing the branches into the little campfire she'd managed to create. Thank Thor she didn't lose or break her axe when the storm hit, because it sure made things a lot easier.
If the trajectory of the storm was anything to go by, the others couldn't have been tossed far. They had to be around here, somewhere, so she'd made a campfire in hopes that one of them would see the smoke and be drawn to it.
Hiccup would be fine, she knew that. He'd been stranded way more times than she's ever had. If anything, she was more worried about the kids.
Her stomach rumbled. Right. She needed to find food. Can't save anyone if you've starved to death.
Some of the bushes had berries, but she had absolutely no idea which ones would be safe to eat, or which ones were poisonous; she really wished she had Fishlegs' knowledge on plants, right now. She wasn't going to take any chances, though; and she had an axe, so hunting it was.
Axe in hand, she stalked into the forest, hoping the branches were enough to keep the fire alight.
"'Nuffink! Wake up!"
"NUFFINK!"
"Ah, what?!" Nuffink awoke, startled, with his hair and clothes dripping wet. He pouted as Zephyr giggled, a wooden bucket in hand. He took notice of his surroundings; they were at the bank of an unfamiliar river, surrounded on both sides by trees. The river led out to a small lake at the end, with a waterfall pouring nearby.
"Took you long enough, sleepyhead!" his sister teased, turning around to refill the bucket with water.
"What… happened...?" The boy asked, "Where are we?"
"We got stranded," Zephyr answered non-chalantly.
"Huh?" he squinted, then his eyes widened as he remembered the storm, "Oooohhhh. Cool!"
"I know, right?!" She grinned, excitedly, "We've never been stranded before! All the other kids are gonna be soooo jealous!"
"Where's Ma 'n Da, then?" her brother wondered, standing up to analyse their surroundings.
"I think the storm winds separated us," Zephyr replied, getting up from the river to stand next to him, "But they're probably nearby, somewhere! The island doesn't seem that big."
Nuffink nodded, accepting the answer. He crouched down, peering at the river, abundant with fish swimming inside, "Good thing we've landed next ta' a river, huh?"