Chapter 12

Rivers splashed and slapped at every curve as the fast tides pushed forward. Tiny colorful fish fought against the violent waves, weaving their fit bodies from side to side and catching passing-by food particles. Unfortunately, their launch time got interrupted when a giant beaked snout cut through the river's path. Pebbles flew and fish scattered for their lives. The culprit, a Blue Nadder, was quite pleased with her new game: Catch the fish! Ducking her head closer to the water, she turned her head from one side to the other, focusing on one particular eye to pin point a fish's location. Having her eyes located on the sides of her head, combined with owning a huge horn between them made it impossible for Nadders to see what was placed in front of their noses.

Nearby, a blond Viking sprawled on the grass sighed in frustration, staring at one lonely, thin cloud glide across the almost empty sky. A few hours ago, she had woken up to her dragon's cooing, desperate for food but had been reluctant to leave her human's side. After limping her way around the house, garden and other places she had decided to check, she finally took her scaly pet to nearby water in order to find fish. Stuffed and full, the dragon had formed a game to entertain herself as her human sat there, being a human. Astrid was not pleased. She was angry, frustrated, irritated, confused, lost, bored, in pain and felt negative in every possible way. She'd looked everywhere, but that son of a half troll wasn't around. He left her, just like that.

She was ready to disfigure his face…

She had questions, lots of questions, mostly to herself.

What did she have to do? No matter how much she thought about it, she believed she wouldn't, couldn't kill another dragon. So what now? Her family needed her, but that meant that she needed to go back to Berk, but what about Hiccup? What about her dragon?

Everything seemed so wrong.

Sighing loudly, she heaved herself up, immediately clutching her sore side. Thumping sounds were made when her dragon marched to her, ready to follow. Astrid couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the Nadder's childish behavior. After everything that has happened so far, the Viking was glad to have found this sweet dragon. Grabbing the dragon's snout for balance, she steadied herself as she walked through the uneven ground with the dragon's chin practically leaning on her shoulder. It was common to walk by dragons, but they all either ignored her, went back to sleep, trotted away, or simply flew away. None had tried to harm her or seemed interested in any way. She figured they were all tried by Hiccup, especially after seeing two strange water dragons spill water and a large number of multi-colored fish into a barrel before they both plunged into the sea, leaving circles of foamy bubbles waving on the water's surface.

The place had a lot of dragon, but no humans so far.

The place was lush and green, with long, wet grass growing on every possible inch. There were also lines of fences mapping the land, separating farm areas from buildings. On the buildings area, none of the strictures looked the same. The one she had been sleeping in was the tallest and was located far away from every other building. Looking at it from outside, Astrid had to hold her breath. It looked more like a miniature castle than a home. It was four times bigger than Stoick the Vast's home back on Berk, with some strange wooden handles sticking out from the roof and corners of the house. Dragons occasionally sat on them. There were other structures, such as a few sheds, a rolling water mill, a well, a few dragon statues, a small forge, a bigger forge connected to a bigger storage area, and two locked shads.

The farm was divided into two parts, plants and animals, both guarded by dragons. Sting-armed dragons circled chickens, sheep, goats and yaks. There was a good-sized, clean pond at the center, perfectly squire shaped and obviously mad-made. It had a long river cutting through it, entering from one side, and out the other. The parts where the river and the pond met were separated by thin wire, allowing water to flow in, but preventing the fish inside the pond from escaping while filtering the pond. The fish that lived in the pond were big, fat, healthy, colorful and, well, delicious looking. A purple Nighmare slept nearby, curled up into a tight ball.

The sheep grazing on long green grass looked… unusual to her. Sure, a lot looked similar to the ones she found on Berk, but others looked so different she couldn't possibly believe those were sheep. Some were white but had black heads, some had wool so thick Astrid couldn't resist but touch, some were abnormally big, and some had hug horns on their heads. Some boars had longer hair than others. The yaks looked almost identical to the ones on Berk, except for one yak that was completely white. The chickens also had weird coloring, with some being brownish-grey with white spots all over and some were a mixture of every color that existed. Others had very long tail feathers, and some sounded weird. She also saw a few ducks waddling around. Astrid was baffled with the variety of the animals. Unlike the animals on Berk that were fat, lazy, and sometimes sick, the animals here were fit, lively and healthy. Sure, Berk had more animals, but the hens here were much bigger and better. Just how in the name of Thor had Hiccup managed to collect all these?

The grassy land finally ended at a curved angle that was most likely edited and dug by someone in order to make a nice walk path. Sea met land, covering and uncovering the ground in a wet blanket. Nearby were two small, banana shaped boats that were both resting a few steps a away from a wooden dock. Both ships were similar and had blankets covering the back of the boats. They were both trading boats, Astrid realized. With a deep breath, she approached one of them. As soon as she grabbed the edge of the blanket, she suddenly felt like a guilty burglar. Why feel guilty? He was the one who kidnapped her and left her here with his belongings. Now slightly angry, she huffed and tore away the blanket. Two shields, two hammers and a few long and short blades were found, all with their deadly parts covered with a brown cloth tied with wool string. He was trading weapons.

The Nadder behind her gurgled curiously. Astrid looked back at her dragon, finding it staring at the distance with its spikes raised in interest. The forge, it was lit. A black dragon sitting outside hinted at who the person working inside might have been.

Oh, so he came back? Astrid huffed and stumped her way to the now heating forge, flattening the grass with each step. She was greeted with a wide-eyed Night Fury with his floppy ears straight up. He relaxed after realizing who this person was then went back to licking the space in between his back toes. Astrid still couldn't believe this was a Night Fury. After circling around the forge, she found the entrance: a wooden door that was slightly ajar. With the tips of her fingers, she gave the door a light shove and it slowly opened wider until it knocked the opposite wall with a clap. Hooks and shelves were full. The air smelled like chalk, burned dirt, hot metal, old rope, smoke and leather. He stood hunched with his shoulders bulging out his back, showing them off. It looked like his arms were the only things keeping him from face planting on the work table as he leaned against it with his head down, his hair shadowing his eyes. One of his hands came up and swiped down his face and he sighed tiredly.

His hand reached across the table and grabbed a knife resting on a half-used plate. He turned it upside-down and stabbed the sharp tip into a slice of honeyed bread before he trapped the food in his mouth and used his knuckles to wipe the edge of his mouth. He carelessly dropped the knife on the table and quickly switched to a charcoal pen, drawing four Xs on a map before circling the bottom part. It wasn't clear what kind of map it was, and when Astrid stepped forward, the floor creaked. Hiccup automatically dropped the pen and swiftly folded the map and tucked it away into his armor. His previously strained face turned into a friendly, greeting smile.

"Astrid!" He greeted and stopped for a few seconds, forming words to say, "I… I didn't find you in bed when I checked." He was struggling to start a conversation, looking around and closing previously opened books and notes. Astrid crossed her arms and huffed. He was hiding something.

"And where were you?" She demanded.
His eyes nervously searched around, "Weh… Who – me? Well, you know… here and there…" He trailed off when his eyes landed somewhere near her side, then at her eyes, then back down, then back up, worry slowly showing in his eyes. She glanced down and briefly noticed him stop himself from reaching out. To her side was a piece of paper. This was what he was eyeing, a simple drawing? Why…

It was her, staring off into a distance. He drew her again, and again, it was perfect.

Her mouth hung open without her knowledge.

"Oh... oh – that! It's just… I … " He looked away and scratched the back of his neck, "It's been a while since I, you know, drew someone… so…" He finally finished. He looked at her from the corner of his eyes with a guilty look. She had to look away because it felt like he was somehow melting her heart with that look. It looked like he was asking for forgiveness.

She tapped the paper with her nail, "It's good." She said simply with little emotion. She didn't want to sound surprised or happy, but that replay for some reason caused the man's eyes to widen in surprise. "Oh…oh. Ok… Good, I guess…" He forced a chuckle that came out awkwardly. His face suddenly turned to shock and worry and he hurriedly put his hand out.

"Wait! No – Stop!"

She started feeling uncomfortable with the strange behavior that came out of nowhere, and began feeling creeped out and defensive when he quickly stepped towards her. It was when she heard the Nadder gurgle uncomfortably behind her that she realized her dragon had managed to follow her in, getting cramped into the tight space of the forge with her spiked head and body bumping into the pillars and walls. Feeling trapped, the Nadder jerked her head back to back up, only to head-butt a pillar, causing her spikes to pierce it. Stuck and panicking, she ignored Hiccups calming gestures and yanked back, freeing her spike. Because of the sudden, unexpected release, the dragon, not realizing it had been freed, drove back and slammed into another pillar.

A loud snap was heard and before she knew it, Astrid was shoved down by her shoulders, landing hard on her back. She heard a loud clunk and thud over her head and there was suddenly a hot, heavy body over her, breathing and moving. Instinctively, she punched. The person surrounding her coughed and hissed. His mouth was right above hers, judging by the breath that tickled her face. It took her a few seconds to finally see what had happened. The pillar had shifted, which had caused the wooden frame above to come loose and come down. It would have landed right on her if… if Hiccup hadn't pushed her down. The piece of wood was moved away by the Nadder, using her tail to lift it up and shove it away. She looked down at her human in worry, making desperate cooing noises.

"Okay… you okay?" He breathed out, still not fully alert.

She was about to snap but stopped and stared. He was leaning over her, with his warm body pressed up against hers. The ends of his reddish-brown hair touched her face. His nose almost reaching hers, his heavy, short breaths brushed her skin like feathers. She felt him, smelled him, noticed him. He was so close. Calm, dazed green eyes finally snapped fully open and he pulled back. He literally threw himself to the floor, spluttering nonsense apologies while scooting away, holding his hands up to show his innocence.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry – I am so sorry! I… I don't know wha – I don't know what happened! It was an accident – please don't kill me – It's not what it looked like! I wasn't trying to do anything – nothing at all! I wouldn't dare do something like that I – GAH! I'm sorry?"

By then Astrid had planted her boot on his stomach. Her face red like a tomato, her body trembled and her blood felt like hot lava. She didn't know what she was feeling. It was a strange mixture of anger, confusion, embarrassment, fear, frustration, and a chunk of miss-placed energy. He had towered over her, over her. No one towered over Astrid Hofferson! A Hiccup had cornered her on the floor!

A Hiccup…

It was at that moment Astrid realized Hiccup, the little boy she had known back then, wasn't a runt anymore, but a full-grown, well built, fit man. He had managed to bring her down, showing some of his new capabilities. He had change in size, now being significantly taller with wider shoulders and sharper cheekbones.

He was strong enough to push her now. He had the ability to overpower her, even though she had never been defeated before in battle. His speed and reflexes, and the fact that he knew how to use a sword showed that he knew how to fight, and judging by how fast he had moved to push her, he was a fast fighter. Remembering the time he had fought of a wolf and the last battle on Berk before he had taken her, she suddenly felt uncomfortable being close to this man. Astrid knew a weak opponent when she saw one. Hiccup wasn't one. The way his body had pushed against hers… it felt strange. He wasn't a boy anymore, and she wasn't a girl, they were adults with different body upgrades. She was a woman, he was a man. She had a good start in life, he hadn't. Even after finding the long lost son of Stoick the Vast, it still felt like there was a chunk of history missing.

Somehow, she felt like she was in the home of a stranger, which made her feel exposed. With an angry screech, she kicked his stomach one last time, spun around and stormed off, kicking at the dirt. Hiccup swallowed a cough in his throat before clasping the table. He heaved himself up and leaned against the flat, wooden table, staring down at it with watery eyes. He blinked the moisture away and slipped out the folded map. Spreading it on the table, he eyed the Xs that littered the map. Every place he had checked last night, but he hadn't found a trace. His gaze went down, and his heart rate sped. The islands located were too close together, but the amount of water separating them was enough to hide that… thing. No Xs on that area yet. He still had time. He grabbed his knife and stabbed the circled spot on the map, a few islands away from Berk.

"I'm telling you – we are going the wrong way!"

"Oh, for the last bloody time … You're holding it the wrong way! By Thor – give me that!"

The one holding the steering wheel, Alfhild, rubbed her temple with one meaty hand while using the other to hold the wheel. She sighed loudly and secretly blamed her chief for putting her in this situation. She had been silent, until her two companions decided to start throwing staff at each other, fighting over the map. A bucket flew past her head, barely missing her orange hair.

"Stop! Both of you are acting like untamed children!" She yelled over her shoulder, still holding the wheel. "I don't want to be the one telling Chief Stoick why we are late sending the letter to the Knuckleheads!" She warned.

Asmund and Bjorn released each other's helmets immediately. Bjorn pointed a thumb at his friend and whispered "He started it." Unfortunately, Asmund had heard him and the fight was on again. Alfhild was sure Stoick had placed them with her to purposely get rid of them, keeping them away from the important Chiefs they needed to send letters to. She growled when she heard a muffled sound of hammer hitting helmet behind her. Everything suddenly went silent. Keeping one hand on the wheel, she turned around to make sure they hadn't killed each other, only to find them both staring at the sky to their right with Bjorn holding his helmet in place.

"Boys?" She called, but they didn't look at her.

"I think you hit me too hard – I'm seeing dragons." Bjorn said as he removed his helmet and rubbed the big red spot on his temple.

Alfhild froze. They were taking a safe route. Dragons never took this path! She followed their gaze and found a swarm of dragons heading their way. "Arm yourselves!" She ordered. Not wanting to release the wheel, she reached with her other hand and drew out her hammer while her partners readied nets. The dragons flew right over the ship, forming a dragon tornado above, swirling round and round. Alfhild eased out of her battle stance and raised an eyebrow at the unusual behavior of the dragons. What were they doing? They weren't attacking, but merely hovering harmlessly in the sky. The ship suddenly jerked up and all Vikings lost their balance. Their feet flew off the ship before their bodies slammed back down. The fat, female Viking quickly grasped the wheel and pushed her band back, away from her eyes. Asmund abandoned his fallen helmet and reached for anything to hold on to.

"What was that?" Asmund nervously said, his eyes searching the sea around them. Creaking and cracking was heard from down below. Alfhild got to her feet and scanned the area, but found nothing. No obstacles, no other ships. Could it be they had truck an underwater boulder? The dragons remained in the sky, not doing anything else. Suddenly, there ground beneath their feet shifted and tilted fully to the right. Asmund and Bjorn were sent sliding away. One hand still on the wheel, Alfhild's heart thrummed and battled to escape her chest as the Viking held on for dear life. The ship was on its side and was slowly sinking. She released her hammer and used her other hand for extra grip. She heard her companion's screams stop after a splash. The dragons in the sky screeched and cried, but did nothing. Suddenly, she was under water and was thrown around like mindlessly.

Her body experienced extreme pressure from all sides and she saw a flash of blue light so bright, she had to shield her eyes. Her lunges burned threateningly. Up. She needed to go up! Her hands reached out blindly until she grabbed a piece of wood and kicked at the water, heading up, or at least, what she thought was up. She broke through the waves and took one big breath into her needing lunges. The air was damp and smelled like rotting flesh and old fish .It was dark, almost pitch black, and the water around her was decorated with parts of the broken ship. She couldn't find Asmund, but Bjorn was holding on to a barrel, wailing like a baby that just lost its mother. "Gods, what have I done to deserve this? Help me Gods!" It sounded like he had been crying for hours. The air seemed hotter than ever. When Alfhild looked up, she saw that the only light was coming from a slit in the sky. She suddenly realized that there were walls around them… no, not walls... jaws. They were inside the mouth of something. The light in the sky shrunk and disappeared when the monster closed its jaws, trapping the broken ship and Vikings in its mouth. The gigantic monster dove back into the sea, vanishing without a trace.

Yes, I'm alive. Now, before you ask why I hadn't been updating for such a long time, I would like to say a few things first. First of all, thank you. Thank you. I don't know how else I can show my gratitude.

Let me explain what had happened to me a few days after my last update. At first, I was going to post this chapter after my exams, but things started falling apart. I had problems with schools, bullies, teachers, exams, then I suddenly had problems with my family, then I went into surgery, then I had to deal with family and school bullies again, then I got sick and had to stay a few days in the hospital, then I started falling apart emotionally. My brain was dead for some time. I started having problems keeping food down. I got sick and had to stay a few nights in the hospital. I regained some strength after I started going to university. I was shocked after reading the messages I had ignored for so long on Fanfiction. People were asking if I was okay, if something was wrong, if something happened. I have no idea how you guys managed to somehow guess that something wasn't right, but thank you. Thanks to all of you. It's nice to write again. Writing this chapter was a great stress reliever :3

I don't know when the next chapter will be up, but I'll try and finish it after my final exams.

I'll see you guys on the next chapter :3