I am coming to you live in the midst of Texas Winter Storm 3.0 (aka an inch of snow and cancelled school)
Summary: the Dragon Riders are regrouping at Camp Skull and Crossbones. But they can't shake the feeling that something's very off...
If only the Gang knew what movies are. They'd understand that I used Literally Any Teen Horror Movie as inspiration for this chapter. Not that Danny tries to be spooky.
Also why the hell is the canonical name for this Camp "Skull and Crossbones". It's not that hard to come up with a better "spooky" name. "Camp Cryptid". "Camp Creep". See?
Anyways.
Astrid wasn't graced with easy sleep that night. It came and went, and she was sure her tossing and turning wasn't doing much to keep Stormfly asleep either. What short dreams she did have were filled with green sky and giant red monsters, enough to make her start at the very typical sound of a dragon's bickering early in the morning.
"Snotlout, if you don't shut that dragon up I'm gonna feed you to him." She grumbled in her half-asleep state.
She was met with nothing but a heavy snore, so she cracked an eye open to reveal Snotlout, unsurprisingly, sleeping through the entire ordeal.
Just as she was about to sit up, Hiccup's voice drifted from the treeline. "Alright, you, settle down…"
He held up a hand with a clump of dragon nip, and Hookfang warbled, rubbing up against Hiccup lovingly.
The dragon whisperer sighed tiredly, patting the nightmare on the nose as he turned to the rest of the group. It didn't take him long to notice Astrid.
"Morning," He greeted, voice sweet and quiet like morning dew on grass.
Astrid hummed her own greeting, sitting up and shivering against Stormfly's side. "You're up early."
Shrugging, Hiccup sat next to her with a sigh. "Yeah, well…" He gestured to the twins, who should have been on lookout but were currently snoring rather loudly, "figured someone might as well get a start on our day."
Astrid hummed again, leaning into him. She couldn't help but notice the way his fingers danced.
"Did you sleep well?" He asked before she could comment on it.
"I slept." She groaned, popping her knuckles. "Can't say much else."
A sigh rattled Hiccup's chest, "Yeah. Same here."
Her head fell against his shoulder as she stifled a yawn. The fire was crackling lowly, it would probably need more wood in the next hour or so.
"So are we planning on sticking around long enough for that Phantom kid to get back?"
Hiccup did not answer for a while, and it made Astrid wonder if that was a part of her dreams as well. "He was real, right?"
"Yeah, he was real." Hiccup did not sound very pleased about that fact, though, and Astrid had to agree in secret.
"So?" She persisted.
A restless sigh left Hiccup, and he shifted, slinging an arm around her. "I…don't know." He admitted, "I mean…"
He pointed to the brightening sky, where the north star was still visible, "It seems, wherever Wisconsin is, it's further south than Berk."
Astrid squinted at the star, finding it quite a ways lower than it should have been. It made her heart skip a beat. "A lot further south." She turned to Hiccup in concern, who only pressed his lips together, "but I guess that explains why the sun was so high yesterday."
That was one mystery that Fishlegs would be glad was solved. Still, that left another daunting point:
"Let's hope our latitude hasn't shifted very far." Hiccup resolved.
"We can try and send a terror mail to Berk in the meantime." Astrid tried to compromise.
Try, of course, was the key word there. And, evidently, they couldn't even do that.
Mornings in the archipelago were usually announced with the screeches of the terrible terrors that they desperately needed. They drowned out the songbirds most days.
But as the sun rose, only the twittering of doves met their ears.
Being that they were not, currently, on Dragon's Edge, the time Astrid normally blocked out for her morning patrols were instead dedicated to finding the little monstrosities.
Terrible Terrors were, on principle, not hard to find. It was, perhaps, the one admirable thing Astrid could say about them. She'd been expecting to be out for little more than fifteen minutes wrangling one down, which was only a fraction of the time she typically allotted. So when the twenty minute mark hit and she'd yet to find any sign of a terror, Astrid could have admittedly been more upset. The alternative was sitting at the camp and stewing in her thoughts, and she very much would like to get away from her imagination for a bit.
But then the thirty minute mark hit, followed quickly by the forty-five, and the lack of scales in the forest started to shift from annoying to concerning.
The sun was long in the air by the time she tapped Stormfly on the neck. "Let's head back to camp, girl. Maybe Hiccup's had better luck."
They rose over the trees and landed back at the campsite to find that there was one extra person around the campfire. Stormfly squawked curiously as Phantom turned to them. In his arms was a basket of fruit.
"Wh–what were you doing?" He asked in his strange accent; his brows were stern, and wasn't that peculiar.
Astrid squinted her eyes suspiciously, "what's it to you?"
Phantom blinked like he hadn't been expecting the question. "You were, uh…in the woods?" He asked like he was scared of the answer she'd give.
"We were looking for some Terrors." Hiccup supplied, stepping into the conversation. He turned to Astrid, "did you find any?"
"I take it you had the same luck I did." Astrid resigned, slapping her thighs in defeat.
"So I guess sending that message is off the table…" Hiccup rubbed his cheek anxiously, gaze flashing between Phantom, Astrid, and the sun in quick succession.
"You, uh," Phantom chuckled nervously, "didn't happen to see anything…else in the woods, did you?"
Astrid and Hiccup shared a brief, suspicious look. "Just some deer…why?" The shield maiden queried, squinting her eyes once again.
The ghost rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "It's just that there's uh…ghosts! Yeah, very territorial ghosts in there. In fact, this entire region is kinda…infested, so if it's no trouble, you know, it'd be better if you all just stay here. On the campsite." His eyes darted nervously to Stormfly, "on the ground."
A scoff from the campfire drew Astrid's attention, and she turned to find Snotlout shaking his boot out, "if some forest ghost decides to tango with us, they'll regret it. We've got dragons, for Thor's sake!"
"And, need I remind you, Snotlout," Fishlegs countered, "that other ghost still kicked our butts regardless?"
Snotlout avoided eye contact. "That was obviously a fluke."
"Guys…" Hiccup pinched his brow, exasperation on his tongue. They stopped talking, giving him time to turn back to Phantom, "we can do that." he said, and was cut off by indignant squawks from the other dragon riders.
"I thought you were the say-all, oh great Dragon Whisperer!" Snotlout mocked in a fake baritone, "how are you gonna let this dead kid walk all over you!"
"I'm not – letting him walk all over me, Snotlout!" Hiccup countered, throwing his arms out to his sides like he wanted to strangle his cousin, "we don't know anything about – ghosts, or how to fight them! Phantom does, so we're going to do what he says is our best course of action."
"Yeah because you know him so well." Snotlout rolled his eyes, "we trusted Johann blindly, too, and look where that got us!" He gestured around them like the trader had thrown them into the Ghost Zone himself.
"Snotlout!" Astrid warned through gritted teeth, thankfully her deathglare had always been enough to shut him up.
The slightly awkward thing was, she agreed with him. Of course, she wasn't stupid to voice her suspicions in front of their company, but…
She managed to catch Phantom's eye. His lips were pursed rather awkwardly, shoulders hunched, feet turned inwards – in other words, the spitting image of the Twins after they were caught doing something they shouldn't.
So he wasn't a good liar. That much was obvious, and it made Astrid feel a bit more at ease about her feelings, knowing that she could probably read him like a book.
But that being said, he was still lying. Or, at the very least, nervous about something.
The ghost seemed to grow wary of her staring, because he straightened, and an innocent curtain fell over his face. He thrusted out the basket to her, drawing her attention to the contents.
Much in the way she'd been surprised to see his human companions yesterday, she was surprised to find regular fruits in the basket. Apples, mainly, but there were a few pears thrown in there, too.
She must have had a suspicious look on her face, because Phantom replied, "Sam picked them from her garden this morning. They're on the house!"
"On the house?" Astrid repeated the phrase with a snort, raising an eyebrow at him. She did not reach for the fruits.
"...they're free." Phantom elaborated. "It's a saying in my language."
Astrid hummed. Free did not mean edible.
…That suspicious look must have still been lingering, because Phantom's expression dropped in what she could almost call exasperation. He grabbed an apple and theatrically bit into it. "See?" He said through a mouthful. He swallowed. "Completely safe!"
Well,
Well. She couldn't argue with that.
She plucked an apple of her own from the basket and turned back to Hiccup.
"Do you have a map, perhaps?" He asked Phantom, "we're trying to figure out which direction home is, and it would be easier with one."
The ghost's hand flew to his pocket, but a frown pulled across his face. "Uh…not currently…" He admitted.
Hiccup shook his head, "that's fine. How about a market?"
"Market? You mean like…a mall, or something?" Phantom asked, and then seemed to immediately regret that, "nevermind, uh, no. No markets, unfortunately…"
That was weird. Weird enough to send off alarm bells in Astrid's mind, but she refused to let that show. If Hiccup felt the same way, he also remained stoic. Only a small, processing nod came from him. "...Right."
There was an awkward silence for a moment, which ended when Phantom set down the fruit basket rather hastily. "I'm, uh, I gotta go. You guys – stay here, Your – dragons – too. I'll be back at dinner time, hopefully with a map, so, uh…yeah."
He trailed off, looking behind him, towards his village with no market and impossibly bright fires.
"...Alright," Hiccup nodded again, catching Astrid's eye deliberately. She widened them in suspicion that he refused to return for some reason, "See you, Phantom…"
"So let me get this straight just one more time," Snotlout repeated, legs swinging off the pier of the lake, "We're stuck gods-know-where, on a giant island, surrounded by ghost infested woods, with no civilization as far as the eye can see, and the only other thing that knows where we are is a dead kid."
Hiccup could feel his eye begin to twitch again. "That would be correct, Snotlout."
"Cool, just making sure." His cousin droned sarcastically, giving a theatrical shrug, "this certainly isn't a death sentence."
"Continuing to complain isn't going to change anything," Hiccup pinched his brow again, regretting his decision to check up on Snotlout.
"Then I'll just have to keep doing it until you get it through your thick skull! We. Are. Going. To. Die. Here. And it's gonna be by the hands of that ghost kid!"
Hiccup turned and walked away.
Phantom had been true to his word, returning just before sunset with another basket of food – a stew that was once again claimed to be made by the Sam girl from yesterday. Despite the fact that there was no meat, it was actually quite good and, thanks to a quick inspection via Stormfly, safe to eat.
What the ghost had not returned with, however, was a map. His explanation was that he was unable to find one, and as suspicious as that sounded, with his claim that his village had no markets…it did seem to add up.
As much as something that illogical could.
It wasn't like Hiccup was stupid. Phantom had kept his word so far, so he really had no tangible reason to distrust him, but he'd been head-to-head with Viggo too many times now to take things at face value. And this entire situation wasn't just a sketchy one. It was a bizarre one.
Well, it was bizarre for human standards. Again, Hiccup had to remind himself that he knew nothing of ghosts – the fact that he now felt that he needed to was still making his guts twist like snakes. Perhaps this was living in luxury to the dead? But if that were the case, Phantom surely would live nearby, right?
But shouldn't he be living in one of those…doors in the Ghost Zone? Hiccup recalled the bit of information the ghost had dropped. Fishlegs had done a well enough job documenting yesterday's events, and the researcher in Hiccup wanted to sit down with Phantom and ask questions, but it was hardly a conversation that could be started with a "sit by the fire, let's talk".
It was hardly a conversation that should be possible, period.
Hiccup stepped off the pier and turned to find the twins walking amongst the log cabins that littered the lakeside. He studied them cautiously, just to make sure there was no property destruction occurring, before returning to the campfire.
Fishlegs stacked a few more logs onto the pit as Hiccup sat. He wiped his brow, squinting at the sunset with an experienced eye. "Oh, I hope our calculations are right…" He fretted.
"They're right," Hiccup sank against Toothless with a weary sigh, his dragon purred, twisting so that he could rest his head in his lap. "They're always right."
"Yeah, Fishlegs, you're like – the wayfinder." Astrid joined in from where she was stitching up her boot.
A disturbed look crossed over their friend's face, "I guess, but…that would mean we're way further outside the archipelago than any viking has ever been before! We're not going to be able to get out word about Trader Johann anytime soon."
"Which is why we're going to leave first thing tomorrow." Hiccup resolved.
"Tomorrow?!" Ruffnut exclaimed, and he turned to see the twins had apparently lost interest in the cabins, "listen, Hiccup, I'm all for investing in haunted camping trips, but even I know that staying two nights in a haunted forest is a bad idea."
Hiccup bit back a sigh. He had to admit that the twins were right – if what Phantom said was right, it was fortunate that they hadn't been attacked last night.
Still, "If we're going to encounter any forest spirits, I'd rather do it during the daytime." He said, giving the twins a stern look.
"I would also prefer to not be asleep," Tuffnut responded, giving a very deliberate side glance to the woods, "pretty inconsiderate of that Phantom fellow not to warn us about our spectral neighbors last night."
"Yeah, who does that?" Ruffnut said, "I mean, survival of the fittest, I guess, but I think ghosts have already lost that. They shouldn't get another chance, unless we're going by..."
Hiccup tuned the twins' musings out with an eye roll that ended on the cabins once again.
They were uninhabited; seasonal housing, perhaps. And that was much safer than the alternative.
"Alright, alright," he relented, cutting the twins' conversation off and receiving a thankful look from both Astrid and Fishlegs, "We'll compromise. Pick a cabin."
Ruff and Tuff's eyes lit up. "We're very happy to know you've seen the light, Hiccup," Tuffnut stood and wiggled his brow, "Because we happen to have just the cabin in mind."
"Of course you do." Hiccup deadpanned.
It was, admittedly, a nice cabin. Unfortunately, the windows were shuttered, so Hiccup couldn't tell if the inside lived up to the standards of the outside, but they weren't exactly in the position to be picky.
"And…of course it's locked." Astrid grumbled, jiggling the doorknob in frustration. She sighed, turning to Hiccup. "Maybe there's another way in?"
He opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Snotlout, "Hookfang, blast it down!"
And that the nightmare did. Why did Snotlout's dragon only respond to his most unreasonable requests?
"This isn't our cabin, Snotlout!" Hiccup reprimanded, staring in dismay at the charred remains of the door."
"But it is open now!" His cousin countered with a sly look, meandering through the door and smugly wiggling his shoulders.
Pinching his brow, Hiccup waved the rest of his dragon riders in after Snotlout. He did not have the energy to argue.
"Wow…" Tuffnut said with a disdain that did not imply he was the one that recommended this cabin, "no offense to whoever lives here, but I would not wanna live here."
"Then you'll be perfectly happy to only be staying the night," Hiccup responded, though he had to admit, the view did not impress him all that much, either.
It was one large room, with five windows adorning each of the longer walls. Bunk beds were stacked in rows, leaving only a hallway down the middle. There were no rugs, and no fire hearth, and only a few paintings hung on the walls, depicting what seemed to be teams of some sort. (What kind of cabin had paintings, but no fireplace?)
"I dunno, it reminds me of soldier barracks." Astrid hummed, testing out the nearest bed with the butt of her axe, "practical."
"Of course you would like it," Snotlout rolled his eyes.
"Sorry, Snotlout," Astrid batted her eyelids sarcastically, "you can sleep outside with the ghosts if you want to."
Snotlout did not respond to that.
"This must be a training camp of sorts," Fishlegs observed, leaning close to one of the paintings. Hiccup came up beside him, cocking his head to the side. It was an incredibly realistic job of what looked to be a class of some sort.
"Maybe they come here to learn how to fight ghosts?" Fishlegs continued, brushing a finger over one of two adults on the canvas. They were holding a trophy of sorts.
"Ugh, what weirdos." Snotlout droned, flopping down on one of the beds. A cloud of dust kicked up, and he quickly devolved into a coughing fit.
"It's not weird," Astrid reprimanded, "It's survival. We were training to be dragon killers at their age, after all."
"What I find weirder is that there are no dragons around…" Hiccup admitted, crossing his arms over his chest. If he were back home, in the comfort of his own hut, he may admit that he was more unnerved than weirded out, but he was not, so he kept that part to himself to maintain his bravado.
"Maybe they know to stay clear of the forest?" Fishlegs offered.
That could very much be it, but…
"Our dragons don't seem very offput." Astrid beat Hiccup to the observation, nodding out the door to Toothless and the others, who were more than content with napping on the grass outside during the last moments of daylight.
"Maybe there just aren't any nearby to be concerned about," Hiccup tried to calm his friends' nerves, "we should take that as a blessing. Get some shut eye, gang, we leave at sunrise."
A loud thump on the roof made Hiccup nearly rocket to his feet. Instead, he hit his head on the top bunk, and fell back on his pillow with a groan.
"What was that?" came Fishleg's whisper from across the room, which was followed promptly by various "I don't know"s from the rest of his riders.
"Just Stormfly," came Astrid's voice, and Hiccup quit rubbing his forehead to find her sitting in the doorway.
"So not a ghost?" Fishlegs confirmed, and she only nodded: something only the moonlight picked up.
"Go back to sleep. Sun'll be up in a few hours."
One of the twins muttered something unintelligible as they rolled back over, and Hiccup tried to do the same, feeling the pitter patter of his heart beating against his sternum like a blacksmith to a sword.
He sucked in a deep breath, and listened.
Indeed, there were the scratching, creaking sounds of something heavy roosting above their heads, and a sigh of relief left him.
But that small jolt of adrenaline seemed to be more than enough to keep him awake. It did not take long for Hiccup to give up, throwing his blanket off and standing up.
"I said get some sleep," Astrid whispered as he approached. She looked up at him, and the moon made her eyes sparkle with serenity.
Hiccup did not answer until he was sitting next to her. He caught sight of Toothless' tail dangling off the roof, and a sigh he didn't know he'd been holding left him. "Not sure that's gonna happen."
"Yeah, don't blame you." She shrugged, running her thumb absentmindedly along the blade of her axe. Her eyes made another slow scan across the treeline.
After a quick glance to confirm the rest of the dragon riders were asleep, Hiccup asked, "any visitors?"
A slow, even head shake was sent his way as Astrid's gaze dragged the opposite way. "Not a peep."
"Maybe we're lucky," Hiccup leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He, too, trained his vision on the treeline. The shadows shuddered as wind blew the leaves above.
"Maybe," Astrid sounded neither convinced nor unconvinced.
And then, after a few seconds of silence, she asked, "are you gonna tell Phantom that we're leaving tomorrow?"
Hiccup instantly began chewing on his lip.
It wasn't like they could just leave a note. Phantom seemed rusty at just speaking Norse. There's no saying if he could read it.
But Hiccup also didn't want this to turn into a similar disaster as what happened on Vanaheim. He didn't think Phantom would be as easy to shake as the Sintenials were.
His silence must have been telling, because Astrid finally broke her tether with the horizon. "Do you even trust him?"
"I trust that he hasn't attacked us yet." Hiccup retorted, avoiding her gaze.
"Sure," Astrid responded, shifting her weight, "he just so happened to forget to mention that the woods we're staying in is infested with his kind."
"If that was his plan, then why tell us at all?" He asked.
"I don't know," Astrid shook her head, "he seems to be telling us a lot of things. Not any that make sense, by the way."
"I know, I know…" Hiccup admitted, raking a hand through his hair. He slumped against the doorframe, not sure how to exactly explain his feelings about the ghost.
And then something caught his eye.
"Do you see that?" He asked, getting to his feet.
"See what?" Astrid followed suit.
Hiccup squinted into the night, staring at the small speck of light near the treeline.
It was orange, not green.
Astrid spotted it in the meantime. "It's just the campfire."
Narrowing his eyes, Hiccup stepped off the porch. "Yeah, but we put it out."
"Yeah," Astrid agreed, "and now an ember is being agitated by the wind. Why are you going near it?"
He turned to find her giving him the stink eye, "I'd rather not deal with a forest fire."
Toothless was roused by the commotion, and he crooned in a very similar tone to Astrid as she protested, hopping off the roof with a thud.
"See?" Hiccup whispered as the night fury scampered up to his side, "Toothless's keeping me company. We'll be right back."
Hiccup turned away before he could see Astrid purse her lips. The grass crunched under his feet as they crossed the field.
Toothless paused to sniff the air as Hiccup crouched next to the fire pit. Using a stick, he fished the offending ember from the ashes. As it landed on the dewy grass, it sparked and sputtered to life, flaring like it had something to say.
Hiccup's eyes narrowed, suddenly seeing Phantom's glowing fists in the back of his mind. Cautiously, he lifted his gaze to the treeline, but found nothing but inky shadows within. Toothless let out a growl.
"Alright," Hiccup wavered, stamping on the ember until it darkened. His dragon's growl grew deeper, which wasn't helping him shake off his paranoia. "alright, I hear you."
He turned back to Toothless to find his attention darting rapidly amidst the trees, and goosebumps were beginning to form on Hiccup's arms.
"Whatdya see, Bud?" He wavered, placing a hand on his dragon's head. His voice almost cracked.
Toothless grumbled, which made Hiccup swallow nervously, the wind whisked by him, sending a chill up his spine, and he gasped. "Toothless!"
The night fury roared, sending a plasma wave through the trees.
The shadows peeled away to reveal nothing.
They stood still for a few seconds as Hiccup waited for the soundwaves to make their way back to Toothless. When they did, his dragon backed out of his crouched position. His wary expression disappeared. Instead, he turned to give Hiccup an unnerved look.
The dragon whisperer nodded, allowing himself a sigh of relief. "Yeah, this place's got me freaking out over nothing, too." He wavered, eyes darting back to the trees in paranoia. He rubbed Toothless' head. "Thanks for looking out for me anyway."
His dragon warbled, pressing up against him. The wind whisked past them again as they headed back to the cabin.
Ultimately, Hiccup didn't have to decide whether or not he wanted to tell Phantom that they were leaving, as the ghost turned back up as they were packing up camp. So silent was his arrival that Hiccup didn't even suspect he was there until he spoke.
"You guys are packing up?"
He jumped, still a bit spooked from last night, and whipped around to find him floating there. He promptly tried to compose himself. There was a nervousness amidst Phantom's staticy tone that almost made Hiccup want to lie.
"Oh, hi. Yeah, we have our coordinates back home. We've taken up enough of your time. Anyway." His attention dropped to the pastries in Phantom's arms, "and your food."
"Oh, um…" The ghost trailed off, tucking his knees in closer to his chest, "w-well, are you sure your calculations are right?"
Hiccup finished folding up his blanket before he responded. "We're experienced travelers. We're sure."
The ghost shifted in the air.
"You're nervous," Hiccup observed, feeling Astrid not-so-subtly look in their direction. He wanted to ask why, but bit his tongue. He didn't want to sound like he was accusing Phantom of anything, just in case he did actually try to trap them there.
The ghost seemed surprised that Hiccup mentioned it, "Nervous?" He scoffed, "I'm not nervous, I'm just…" He rubbed the back of his neck, eyes darting around the campsite, " – surprised! That's all. I thought you needed a map?"
Shrugging, Hiccup jutted a thumb back towards Fishlegs. "We would have preferred one, but we can do without them, too."
"...Right," Phantom responded, toxic eyes falling to the ground. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but no more sounds left him.
So Hiccup turned and continued packing. "I, uh, wanted to say thank you." He tilted his head anxiously as he placed his water flask on top, "For, you know, getting us out of that place the other day."
He placed his hands on his hips, where Inferno was sheathed, as he turned back to Phantom.
"O-oh, yeah, of course." the ghost stuttered, "I mean, no need to…thank me, it's my job…" He looked over Hiccup's shoulder to Snotlout who, from the sound of it, was having trouble getting Hookfang to stay still, "... do you–have to go?"
Alarm bells that sounded very similar to Astrid's "I told you so"s began ringing in the back of Hiccup's head. He took a cautious step back, and that seemed to be enough for Phantom to backpedal, "I-I mean, what's the rush?" He giggled nervously, "You just got here, and I'm sure your dragons had a long flight before that…"
"We're on a time-sensitive mission here." Hiccup stated sternly, fingers gripping the hilt of Inferno.
"No, no, of course…" Phantom backed off, but it did not settle his nerves, "It's just – um…"
Hiccup tightened his grip around Inferno. "Just what?"
Phantom bit the inside of his cheek and moved to set down the basket, "It's just that you – need an escort! Out of here, yeah, uh, kinda impossible without one. It's a ghost thing." Another nervous chuckle.
"Impossible?" Repeated Astrid with a bit of venom on her tongue. Phantom winced before he shrugged.
"Hey, don't kick the messenger." Phantom threw his hands up, "Look, I'll be – I'll be back, gotta pack some stuff for the trip, y'know? Uh, have some breakfast, and stay here. Don't leave without me! I mean it!"
"Wait –!" Hiccup tried to protest so that he could ask, well, anything, but the ghost boy was already too far away to salvage the conversation.
He watched the small silhouette disappear with a slightly agape mouth.
"Well if that wasn't strange, I don't know what else is." Astrid quipped, "Are we actually going to wait for him?"
Hiccup's hand finally left Inferno as he turned back to her. "Well, at least he isn't stopping us from going."
"Yeah, only delaying." Fishlegs gave a pointed look in their direction.
"Look," Hiccup sighed, "I'm not going to pretend he's not…weird, guys, but he's helping us, isn't he?"
"Debatable." Snotlout gritted from where he had Hookfang in a headlock.
"Am I the only one that sees the logic in this?" Hiccup asked, "Look, I'd rather get out on the first try than fail, get attacked by a rogue ghost, and get on Phantom's bad side in one fell swoop."
There was a skeptical silence as his friends looked amidst one another. "...well when you put it like that," Snotlout began to say, but Hookfang jolted, dislodging him from his neck.
"So we agree?" Hiccup exasperated, looking around his dragon riders.
They did not look like they did, but they didn't protest, either.
He just hoped he was doing the right thing.
Astrid had not been able to quantify her faith in Phantom in the three days she'd known him. One one hand, he had saved their life and brought them food for nearly half a week, for completely free. And then on the other hand, he was flakier than a dragon during molting season, and she was almost certain that she couldn't trust every other word that came from his mouth.
And yet, for some reason (perhaps it was the fact that he'd been on time regarding food deliveries), she had expected Phantom to be back in a relatively timely manner.
She was a fool.
At first, it was simply finishing their packing. They tried to travel light, but three days of camping did eventually end up with most of their belongings being used.
By hour two, they figured they'd use the extra time to pack up some luxuries – they wrapped up the leftover pastries that Phantom had brought, as well as some other few oddities they'd found around camp.
And then they kicked back and waited.
And waited.
And…waited.
"Okay, he's not coming back." Snotlout resolved, long after lunch, jumping to his feet, "Hiccup, I am once again begging you: Let's. Just. Leave."
Astrid took it back. There was exactly one thing that she could quantify about Phantom. His ability to make her agree with Snotlout.
It wasn't like she thought Hiccup was wrong – they didn't know what they were dealing with here, she didn't know if it was possible for him to be wrong – it was just…
Hiccup's typical sigh left him from where he and Toothless were laying, and Astrid could see disappointment in his eyes as he looked at the horizon one more time. "You know what, Snotlout, you're right."
"I am?" he gawked, and then shook his head, "I mean, of course I am!"
Astrid rolled her eyes, but sat up with a stretch. "You mean it?" She asked Hiccup, who was raking a hand through his hair.
He wordlessly nodded, hand falling to his cheek, where he rested there for a little while. She followed his gaze as he swept it over the campsite.
"I'll give Phantom one more hour. If he's not here by then, we're gone. In the meantime…"
He stood, facing the cabin they'd stayed the night in, "I think it's only fair we fix the door."
"Oh, so you're making us work while we wait." Snotlout droned, turning to the Twins, "seriously, why did we appoint him the leader, again?"
Picking up her axe, Astrid stood as well. "Snotlout, you have no room to argue." She reminded him, and Hookfang almost looked offended, "Besides, I'd rather have something to occupy my time if we're going to wait."
Snotlout opened his mouth to say something else, but she was not willing to hear it. She reached out and snagged him by the ear, dragging him into the forest in search of wood. His shrieks brought her much comfort in that moment.
Both of their dragons scampered after them as they entered the supposedly haunted treeline. An entire night of lookout had more or less solidified Astrid's suspicions that it was just a normal forest, but she couldn't deny that she felt better with the company.
They were quick to find a suitable tree, which was knocked down with a few blows from their axes. As they tied the lumber to their dragons, Astrid found herself missing Heather. One swipe of Windshear's tail would have made this ordeal a lot easier.
A frown pulled at her face. Hopefully they'd be on their way soon. They were supposed to warn the Berserkers after Berk.
As they finished tying the logs to their dragons, Astrid wiped her brow. Her gaze lifted to the trees again, praying that, perhaps, she'd spy a terror there, but it returned fruitless.
It was a bit too late to send off a message at this point, but she couldn't help it. As unconvinced as she was that there were ghosts in these woods, she still had no explanation as to the lack of dragons. There were no signs that this place should be uninhabitable to them.
"Did you hear that?" Snotlout squeaked, and both of their dragons faltered as Astrid snapped her attention to him.
"Hear what?" She sighed, swiveling to look behind her.
Snotlout did not answer right away, his grip tightened on Hookfang's horns. "I swear I just heard someone." He hissed.
Raising an eyebrow, Astrid tapped Stormfly's side, telling her to stop. The dull dragging noise of the tree stopped, leaving only the whisking of wind through the trees.
She studied the horizon, looking for any movement between the branches. Nothing shifted.
"Oh, very mature, Snotlout." She droned.
"I'm serious!" He still looked pretty spooked, his eyes did not leave the space behind her, so Astrid threw her hands out to draw his attention.
"Look, this place isn't haunted! It was probably just a bear or something. You're psyching yourself out." It was not often that she thought Snotlout needed comforting, and it was even less often that he accepted it, so she kept it as brief as possible, "let's just get this thing back to the lake so you can start chopping it."
"Me?" Snotlout squawked, finally turning his attention to her, "Why me?"
"Because you were the one that blasted the old door, muttonhead!" She chastised as Stormfly began walking again.
Snotlout opted to stew in silence until they got back. At least that worked.
Phantom still was not there, but she'd come to expect that.
"Alright, Snotlout, you've got thirty minutes to get this thing built." She snarked, untying the log from the rope, "so get cracking."
She left before he could protest, stepping around to the front of the cabin to reveal Fishlegs and Hiccup clearing the doorway. The former was holding a metal hunk in his hand. He bent it experimentally, confusion on his face. "Is this supposed to be a hinge?"
"Probably," Hiccup dismissed as he tossed another charred piece of wood onto the grass.
"But this is high quality metal," Fishlegs countered, waving the hinge in front of him, "like, weapon-grade metal…" He tilted it in the sunlight, "that's pretty expensive."
"Maybe these people are rich?" Astrid inquired, kicking a stray piece of wood into the pile.
Fishlegs seemed pretty skeptical. "Even then…it's a strange design. And the handmanship…" He trailed off.
Astrid left him to it. She was never one for tools. Hiccup covered that for the both of them, when he was in his inventing mood.
Speaking of.
A very familiar sight manifested as Hiccup stepped off the porch and plastered a hand on his chin, studying the front of the cabin.
"Struck with inspiration?" She asked, tilting her head to the side as a crooked smile graced her lips.
Hiccup hummed.
"I'll take that as a strong 'maybe'." Astrid snorted, "Go easy on Snotlout, would you? He's already on a time crunch."
"And he is where, exactly?" Hiccup asked, prompting her to jab a thumb back behind the cabin.
"Hopefully making quick work of that tree we chopped."
"Alone?"
Astrid suddenly realized she had not seen the twins since she'd gotten back. Her eyes widened, causing Hiccup to mirror her expression.
"I'll be back," He said with a bit of worry in his tone, "C'mon, Toothless."
The dragon whisperer took his leave, so Astrid turned back to Fishlegs. He was placing the hinge back on the doorframe, shifting it in miniscule amounts in the way he typically did. He was a perfectionist.
"I think the nails were dislodged in the blast." he thought out loud, turning to Astrid, "I can't find any."
Humming, she reached a hand up to scratch Stormfly on her chin, "I doubt we have the tools to make some more…"
Fishlegs hummed a disappointed affirmative, carefully setting the hinge in his pocket. "Maybe there's a storage house around here?" He suggested, patting Meatlug on the head.
"Oh, there's definitely one around here," Astrid said, "you don't maintain this many cabins without supplies."
Nodding, Fishlegs sighed, "then we'd better get searching."
"No need, my fishy fellow," came a voice from above, and Astrid's head shot up to find the twins descending from the roof, courtesy of one Barch and Belch.
The shield maiden stopped scratching Stormfly, "Well it's good to know you aren't distracting Snotlout."
"Oh, we were," Ruff countered, rolling her eyes, "until Hiccup caught us. So now we're here."
Astrid didn't know what she expected.
"Let me guess," Fishlegs sounded like he didn't want to guess, "you found the storage shed in your snooping."
Two malicious smiles blossomed across the twins' faces. "Follow us…" Tuffnut stated a bit too cryptically, and their zippleback jumped off the roof, sauntering in the direction Astrid hoped the storage house was in.
She shared a look with Fishlegs, who shrugged after a moment, and then began following them.
The storehouse was nestled between two cabins further to the middle of the site. It had a strange lock on it: a heavy duty one with dials instead of a key that they may have been able to find, so they turned to the window instead.
Much in the way that the other cabins had, glass was fitted in it. It was something that Astrid was unfamiliar with, but it did support her theory that these people were rich. Even richer, if they decided that the window to the storehouse needed some as well.
Thankfully, jiggling the edge of her axe under the seal opened it, and with a bit of effort she pushed the glass up until she could slip inside.
There was a table that she landed on, it was sturdy, but old and worn from years of use and speckled with dust. There were blueprints stacked on one side, which nearly spilled onto the floor when she hopped down. She snagged them, straightening them out with a sigh.
"Everything okay?" Fishlegs asked, peeking his head inside.
Astrid nodded, brushing off her hands. "All good," she sighed, looking around.
A similar layer of dust covered the rest of the storage, "whoever owns this place hasn't been in here in quite a while," she observed, stepping towards a shelf. There were some…strange chests on it. At first she thought it was more glass, which would have been confusing in itself, but this was almost bewildering.
She picked one near eye level and rapped on it. It felt malleable under her knuckles. Only a soft, dull thud met her ears, and when she went to shift it, she found it was much too light to be glass. Humming in unease, she lifted the lid. It gave after some effort, and with a popping noise it revealed some tools within it.
Pursing her lips, she took a step back, letting the lid drop gently. She was getting spooked over nothing. So what if this place was weird? That didn't help her find nails.
She also wanted to argue that finding nails wasn't going to help them get out of here, but she prided herself on not complaining.
She found the nails a few minutes afterwards, nestled in a box near the table. They were immaculately made, made of more weapon-grade metal, nearly identical, and with perfect circles for heads. Which was again such a strange waste of time and resources.
Fishlegs helped her out the window, and she traded the box of nails for her axe once again. Stormfly squawked, and she rubbed her head once again.
There were a few seconds spent as Fishlegs counted the nails, in which Astrid reprimanded before he nodded to himself.
"Aw, was that it?" Ruffnut said, turning to her brother, "I was expecting a bit more of a show…"
"This isn't a show, guys." Astrid reprimanded, though she couldn't say she was surprised, "we're fixing a door."
The twins pouted, but the shield maiden did not listen to their grumbles as they began making their way back to the cabin.
"Do you really think we're gonna get this thing built in an hour?" Fishlegs asked, looking up at the sun, "our time's almost up."
"You mean Phantom's time is almost up," Astrid corrected with an eye roll, "and as far as I'm concerned, anything Snotlout gets done is better than nothing."
She heard Fishlegs' steps falter only slightly, "I guess…" He eventually ceded.
A restless sigh left Astrid as they continued their walk. Again, her gaze drifted to the sky in a fruitless search. Not that she thought Phantom was going to turn up anytime soon. The clouds were beginning to streak with golden light as the sun grew ever closer to the horizon.
She still found that 'sabotage' wasn't exactly the word she was looking for when she thought of Phantom. If her suspicions were right, then 'entrapment' may be a better word, but he wasn't very good at either. He left them alone for much too long, and he was way too weird to make them want to stay. His warnings about the woods were baseless, and his reasoning when Hiccup had told them that they were leaving – don't leave without me, he'd said…it was childish. Which, granted, he was. Or appeared to be.
Regardless, Astrid shook her head, she was getting sidetracked. It was obvious that he wanted them to stay here. For what? She didn't know, but then again that seemed to be the one part of his plan that was working.
They knew nothing of the land around them. And that was most definitely by design.
She snapped her musings to the back of her mind when a shout rang through the air, coming in the direction of the cabin.
"Hiccup?" She called, breaking out into a jog. It wasn't his voice, or Snotlouts, and it was too normal to be Phantom's. Which meant that they had visitors, which meant that she was right: they could leave whenever they wanted.
"Astrid, wait!" Fishlegs' rapidly dissipating voice tried to catch her, but she didn't answer. The shouting was continuing – which certainly wasn't good, not when she couldn't see Hookfang or Toothless around.
She rounded the corner of the cabin and came to a stop, axe firmly plastered in both hands.
Hiccup and Snotlout were standing on the porch, hands up at their sides with the half-finished door leaning against the wall of the cabin. In front of them, holding some strange wood and metal things that looked almost like harpoons, were two men in what seemed to be hunting gear.
The older one, a dark-haired man in a strange fabric hat and a graying mustache, was waving angrily with his free hand between the doorway, the new door, and then to their campsite in the distance.
The younger one, a brunette with knobbly knees, jolted as she rounded the corner and, upon seeing her axe, shouted something, aiming the tip of his weapon at her.
"Astrid!" Hiccup exclaimed, and her gaze darted to him as she squared her shoulders, "I uh, think these may be the owners…"
The older one shouted again, but of course they couldn't understand. What language even was that? She didn't think Phantom had ever mentioned it.
"Did you tell him that you're fixing the door?" She asked, ignoring the way the smaller one jerked his weapon, like he wanted her to move towards the porch.
"Oh, yeah, great idea, Astrid, tell the guy who doesn't speak our language that it's a misunderstanding!" Snotlout snapped, a barely held-back scowl was on his face.
With a huff, Hiccup silenced him with a glare. "I don't think they care that we're fixing it, only that we broke the first one to begin with."
As if to prove his point, the newcomers barked angrily again, jabbing their weapons at them again.
"Woah, okay, let's be rational about this!" Hiccup exclaimed, and Astrid watched his patience wear thin on his brow. She stepped forward, trying to get in between the two groups.
"Hiccup's right," she said, trying to keep her voice as calm and steady as possible. She made eye contact with the older one and held it, "there's no need to get violent, let's just talk, um…"
She paused, hesitating, "Do we have any paper anywhere?"
"Only in Fishlegs' journal," Hiccup said.
"What about me?" Fishlegs said from behind the corner, and the tension snapped to him, along with their weapons. He squeaked in surprise, taking a step back.
"Fishlegs, stay calm," Hiccup said, "do you have your journal on you?"
Their friend glanced, startled, between their visitors and Hiccup. His mouth opened cautiously, "It's in Meatlug's saddle bag…" He trailed off, eyeing the owners, "what's going on here?"
Snotlout groaned again, so Fishlegs turned and waved Meatlug forward. Like the loyal gronkle she was, she scampered out from behind the wall of the cabin.
And then the newcomers screamed. Not a war cry, or an angry yell – wild gronkles, after all, weren't very hard to chase off – but a…strange, scared scream.
Astrid turned to give them a strange look, but instead found their weapons level with Meatlug, who definitely wasn't showing aggressive behavior. "Fishlegs!" She cried in warning, and he gasped, but his sword was not at his side.
Thankfully, Stormfly must have heard the distress in her tone, because Astrid's nadder jumped out, spikes extended as she shielded Fishlegs and Meatlug, and roared as an ear-splitting crack raked through the air. She stumbled with a pained squawk, firing her spikes at their newcomers.
"Stormfly!" Astrid called in worry, shaking her head of the noise. She turned to yell at their company, only to find them halfway across the field, still screaming, though this time at each other.
She heard Toothless' concerned roar somewhere behind her as she rushed to her dragon's side. She set a steadying hand on Stormfly's shoulder, only for her to flinch violently and stumble away with a few clicks.
"Stormfly?" Astrid questioned, lifting her touch from her dragon and noticing, for the first time, the way her wing now hung, "Oh, Thor, she's hurt!" She cried, feeling herself choke up.
"What?" Hiccup's concerned voice began nearing as Astrid attempted to calm her dragon. Blood was now splattering on the grass.
Fishlegs called Stormfly's name as well, rushing around from her other side and placing a gentle hand on her snout, "Girl, you didn't have to do that!"
Meatlug seemed to mirror her sentiment, whining and licking worriedly at Stormfly's chin.
Hiccup was now at Astrid's side, placing a hand on her shoulder as they worked to get Stormfly to stand still.
"I didn't see anything hit her, did you?" She wavered, because she could hardly believe that she'd miss something hitting her dragon. It was one of her worst fears. She wouldn't.
"No," Hiccup shook his head, hands darting expertly over Stormfly's wing, "no, I didn't see anything."
That should have made Astrid feel better. Instead, her eyes fell back to the blood at her feet. "Oh, girl…" She croaked, and Stormfly nuzzled against her sorrowfully.
"We need to get out of here," Snotlout said for the millionth time. Was that the only thing he could say?
Astrid whirled on him, "yes, we know, Snotlout!" She screeched.
He didn't seem to take kindly to that, because of course he didn't. "I mean we need to get out of here before they come back with reinforcements! Gods, am I the only one keeping my head on today?"
"Snotlout! Now's not the time!" Hiccup exclaimed. Fishlegs replaced his grip on Stormfly's wing.
"There's a lot of holes in the membrane of her wing," he observed with a shake in his voice. Astrid, despite her love of scars, felt her heart drop.
Because the membrane didn't repair easily. And until it did…
Stormfly was grounded.
Which meant the rest of them were, too.
"We need to get Phantom."
"What?"
She licked her suddenly dry lips, that strange cracking sound from earlier was making her ears ring. She met Hiccup's gaze. "We don't have medical supplies. Those people are gonna come back, and we're grounded. It's practically sunset, and I don't know what the Hel those weapons were, but we're not gonna be able to dodge them if we can't see them coming."
She sucked in a breath, trying to push down the ache in her throat.
"We need Phantom." She said again.
There was a stillness that lasted for a moment. Correction: there was an almost-stillness. The dull splats of Stormfly's blood landing on the grass reminded her of that.
Then Hiccup nodded. Slowly, at first, and then a bit firmer.
"Okay, okay, you're right. Fishlegs, Snotlout, you and the twins take your dragons and Stormfly and get away from this place. Go North. Stay low. Don't light any fires until we get back. Astrid and I will take Toothless and go track down Phantom."
"But what if you can't?" Snotlout said, and Astrid almost punched him.
She did not miss the way Hiccup tactfully ignored that question. "Stay safe." He demanded, hopping onto Toothless. He held out a hand for Astrid, and she took it after a moment. "We'll find you."
They were in the air before any of them could protest.
The sun disappeared below the horizon as they flew, but Astrid did not watch.
Her gaze was instead plastered to the ground below them, trying desperately to get her mind off Stormfly. The blood flow hadn't been serious. She was going to be fine. She was. That was a fact just as much as she could see, between the trees below them, houses – not quite cabins from the look of it, but they were definitely houses. They were big, bigger than most of the ones back on Berk. And they were unsettling.
They all had glass in the windows.
"I don't see any smoke," She commented, letting out a shaky breath. She saw the chimneys, but nothing that indicated that a fire was burning within them. Who does that?
Hiccup was obviously lost in thought, because he remained silent. Astrid let him do that, squinting as they passed over another street.
As the sky grew darker, so did her vision. She could make out general shapes, and reflections where firelight flickered against metal or water or glass, but that was about it.
Except…the light wasn't really flickering, was it? The light in the street lanterns was more…stagnant, and…not-orange. It basked a continuous stone pathway below it for a few feet before everything melted back into the obscurity of the night.
Magic forced its way into Astrid's mind, and she was long past the point of denying it.
Knowing that didn't make her feel much better. Because magic was illogical. There was no way to rationalize it, or contain it. It was unknown, just as much as ghosts and invisible arrows and a land without dragons had been.
Something in an unmistakable green flashed across her vision. She gasped, and Hiccup noticed.
"What's wrong?"
"Ghost," She pointed, and below, meandering between the streets, was indeed a glowing green thing.
And she was desperate enough to beg Hiccup to move towards it.
Hiccup must have been desperate enough to comply.
They dipped low, watching as it continued on a seemingly innocuous path.
Until it wasn't. It paused, only for a brief second, and then there was a flash of red, which sent the thing fleeing.
Astrid's breath caught in her throat as it fell out of sight, and Hiccup leaned forward in his saddle.
They veered and began running parallel to the street below them. The strip of forest that separated this one from the one they'd just flown over was thick, Astrid could just barely see the roofs of the houses from over the treetops.
"There!" Hiccup said, pointing directly in front of them. Astrid's gaze flashed forwards and managed to catch a green flash, followed promptly by a red-and-black shimmer, disappearing down a bend.
"What is that?" Astrid wondered aloud, it didn't look like Phantom.
Toothless sped up, crossing the distance in a matter of seconds, but they rounded the bend to find…nothing. Only a large, unwavering path was laid before them. The houses here were few and far inbetween, leaving only clearings where some might go in the future.
They slowed to a stop, hovering in the air.
"You think they went into the woods?" Astrid asked, catching Hiccup's gaze, who looked just as confused.
"Maybe."
Toothless growled, and Hiccup patted his neck. "What do you think, Bud? You have any idea where they are?"
The Night Fury's head was turning from side to side, earplates swiveling frantically, and a confused growl was emanating from his throat.
Astrid had a moment to worry before the sound of a charging fireblast sounded, and for a split second she almost thought 'dragon'. But then they whirled around to find themselves staring down the barrel of another metal weapon.
The person holding it – clad in red and floating on top of a piece of scrap metal – spoke something in that same language Phantom did. The voice was echoing, but not in the way the ghost's was. Metallic, was the closest thing Astrid could think of. Or artificial, like when Stormfly tried to mimic her voice.
Regardless, the message was clear.
They were trespassing, and they were not about to be welcomed with open arms.
Valerie my beloved 3
I know its not canon but like. Stormfly is SO close to a parrot. I think it's very reasonable to assume that nadders have a form of mimicry.
Also in case it wasn't obvious, Stormfly was hit with buckshot. I based the two hunters/groundskeepers off literally every single one of my neighbors.
"That lady just - hit and run another lady! (to the tune of In My Head by Lil Tjay) Shawty that's a felony! Big time...!" user "potatosalab" on tiktok
Until next time, my lovelies :)
~Local Dragon Haunt