Sorry it took me a long time to update. Life's been taking up way too much of my time and inspiration. XD

Shoutout to my lovely reviewers - especially DragonTrainer98 , who inflated my ego, haha! Thank you. Also, Q-A The Authoress, Cyclone20, Ferdoos as always, and Vondrakenhof.

I knowwww I have some messages to read and reply to, but please bare with me. I've been very much zombie-like in my spare time. :)

CHAPTER TEN - The Way Out?

"Well?" Astrid tapped her foot impatiently on the ground, arms crossed in front of her chest, glaring daggers at the still surprised Hiccup and stealing suspicious glances at the female with the sun-kissed skin.

"Astrid… meet Elleanora," Hiccup said, gesturing between the two women with his hands. The look on his face clearly suggested he still couldn't quite believe what was going on at that moment. It was as if he'd come across a friendly apparition; but an apparition, nonetheless.

"Hello," Astrid deadpanned with undisguised animosity, fixating her scowl on the new arrival, who did look as stunned as Hiccup; if not more.

"You may call me Ellea. We meet at last," the woman replied back cryptically after a small pause, albeit in a much warmer tone than Astrid's. "I never thought I would see you in such a place! How did you arrive here?" Elleanora asked, her untraceable accent more noticeable.

"Well, that's actually the longest story…" Hiccup began, probably unsure of where to begin. "We basically crashed here."

The woman seemed preoccupied, a crease appearing on her forehead as she pondered the words. Her prominent, dark eyebrows knitted thoughtfully over her sharp amber eyes.

"Crashed? Then you did not sail here? You flew by dragon?"

Hiccup nodded hesitantly, then shrugged, struggling with the words. He wasn't even sure how they'd gotten there. "I guess… you could say that… Uh, can you tell us where we are?" Hiccup asked hopefully, "Because we have no clue."

"I can… it will be easier to show you on the map at camp. You must both come, and hurry. It is not safe here."

Astrid didn't move from her spot; she was trying to sort things out in her head, but it simply wasn't working out for her. She needed answers – and fast, before she could even begin to equate what her next move would be.

"So, wait… Five minutes ago you had that thing", Astrid gestured accusingly at the offending spear, "pointed at my back, and now you're trying to help us?"

She wasn't even sure if help was the right word; Hiccup might know this person, but Astrid certainly didn't, and she had no idea whether the camp was safe or not.

"I could not tell friend from foe," Elleanora said, bowing her head apologetically. "Would you not have done the same?"

Astrid mulled over this for a moment; yes, she probably would have done the exact same thing… But she didn't want to give that woman the satisfaction. She settled for a quirk of her lips and the faintest of nods, nearly imperceptible; her hands were now firmly planted on her hips in a determined stance as she continued to glower at the stranger.

Hiccup stood there silently, watching the tension build up with a nervous tap of his prosthetic on the ground; until he noticed the small silver dragon, who was now purring by Toothless' side, tongue lolling from its open mouth.

"Oh! Is that…?"

There was a flash of silver as Alaelding jumped through the air, landing on Hiccup's chest and licking his face vigorously. He laughed heartily and scratched her jaw, eliciting a round of delightful purrs from the scaly creature.

"You remember me! Wow, you've grown so much…! You look so different. I really need to draw you again! Look at you! " Hiccup was gushing. Truly gushing.

This was the last straw.

"Someone definitely needs to start filling me in," Astrid all but growled, the stress of the recent events making her feel nearly as edgy as she had been last night "before anyone starts talking about anything else!"

Astrid snapped her head when the stranger started to laugh, and only then did she actually see what Elleanora looked like.

She did not appear to be older than either of them, but Astrid couldn't pinpoint her age – strangely, the velvety voice had seemed to belong to a more mature person. She was tall, taller than Hiccup was, and her jaw was strong yet smooth, her cheekbones defined and proud.

The dark skin, peculiar amber eyes, black hair and pronounced facial features – the most fitting word to describe the stranger was exotic, just like the forest they were all engulfed in. Her pronounced curves were deceitful enough; this was no domestic woman, but one used to fighting. And light on her feet.

"Who better to explain how we met," Elleanora said, waving her hand over to Hiccup, "than the Dragon Whisperer himself? He will tell you as we march. No time to lose – daylight is a precious resource in this gods-forsaken place."

Astrid merely rolled her eyes at the term used to describe Hiccup. At this point, nearly everything managed to get on her nerves – especially all the jewellery dangling from Elleanora's ears, arms and neck.

Astrid, who'd always trained herself hard when she was younger, wound up developing a great indifference to jewellery, actually even considering a hindrance as it could get snagged somewhere during a fight. Trinkets got in the way, she'd always told herself.

She looked at Hiccup straight in the eye, unafraid of being blunt. "Can we trust her?"

"We can. She's a friend," he replied, nodding reassuringly as he placed one hand over his chest and, with the other, reached out for her. But Astrid inched away after he touched her arm. She spared the woman one last glance before sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose, as if that could help her get her thoughts back into place.

Sometimes she still felt like she couldn't entirely trust Hiccup's judgement on people, but right now they would just have to wing it. They were lost in an unknown place, tired and disoriented, and their supplies were dwindling fast.

"Fine. It's not like we have any other alternative, anyway."

Three people and two dragons – the silver one perched atop her person's shoulders – made their way back to Astrid and Hiccup's camp firstly, to gather their belongings. They praised Toothless for catching such a fine rabbit for dinner and went on their way, hacking at the greenery as they marched.

Astrid wanted a private explanation as to who Elleanora was, but she didn't want to be overly obvious about her disquiet. She just elbowed Hiccup in the ribs as they made their way through the forest, and with her head gestured to the foreigner.

"Ah, right. We met in Lysminnae," Hiccup said, realizing he hadn't explained yet, "when I went there last year. Ellea's husband was the one who – "

"She's married?" Astrid asked, interrupting him. Hiccup nodded.

"Yeah, he was the one who approached me. Anyway, they'd stolen an egg –"

"Not stolen," Ellea cut through, waving her index finger about in the air, "merely claimed it."

Hiccup sighed and nodded. "We'll just agree to disagree on that one, again." Elleanora just snickered and shook her head, so Hiccup continued.

"Anyway, he came up to me and said he knew who I was. Called me the 'Dragon Whisperer'," Hiccup said, his lips curved with an amused chuckle as he imitated a voice thicker than his, "and said he had something I needed to see."

"A dragon egg?" Astrid asked aloud, not really intending to sound that interested in the tale.

"Exactly," he confirmed, nodding. "It was a very weird egg…"

"Wait, you told me about this!" Astrid thought she might have heard this before. But the details about an exotic-looking woman and husband were novelties to her. "You said the egg was a dull grey, but the texture was… velvet, right?"

"Yeah!" he nodded excitedly, nearly hitting his face on a branch, "And nobody could understand how it was possible that an egg no bigger than a hand could have that sort of texture, and be unbreakable. Oh, and warm to the touch." Hiccup gestured with his hands in the air, referring to the size of the egg. "Do you remember me telling you this?"

"I do," Astrid said, leaping over a particularly large tree's root, "But at the time you said 'they', whenever you mentioned people. You never talked about a… woman." The particular detail was irritating Astrid for some reason. Not that it would have made a difference, but still. Hiccup shrugged distractedly; this was probably an element he didn't pay much mind to, anyway.

Astrid remembered the story well; about how Hiccup and some acquaintances had found themselves in a bit of a trouble. A group of adventurers – or so Hiccup said – who'd stumbled upon the very odd egg after raiding a roman vessel.

One of them had been just about to dispose of it – who would care for a heavy, round stone in the midst of gold and silver? – when he felt the bizarre velvety texture and the temperature of it. It was such a puzzling discovery that they couldn't throw the object out.

Not long afterwards, they ported in Lysminnae and, by fate, stumbled upon Hiccup. He was invited into their ship, and completely befuddled upon discovering the egg.

"You told me Toothless was the one who hatched the egg by breathing fire on it… what happened, exactly?" Astrid had always wondered exactly whose idea had it been to blast a small egg with fire that way, but Hiccup had merely brushed her off and told her it had worked, and that was all that mattered. Astrid had found it odd; Hiccup wasn't much of a man for risqué experiments like that.

"Ah, that was funny part," Ellea laughed from a little farther ahead, breaking her silence. Hiccup didn't seem to find her intervention the least bit amusing.

"Really not all that funny –" he started, raising his hands up in the air and signalling for Ellea to stop; but she didn't.

"Our ship was raided by some angry roman bastards, right there in port," Elleanora declared, as if nothing too serious had happened. Astrid glared straight at Hiccup; he hadn't told her anything about an attack. By romans, of all people!

"It wasn't that bad," Hiccup groaned, clearly unamused by the memory. "And all they wanted was their stuff back, really. Stuff you guys took."

"They were not polite in way of asking," Ellea pointed out, apparently indifferent to the fact that she'd been the one who'd taken items from their original owners. "Then we had to find other ship, because of Toothless breathing dragon fire on the roman slobs," Ellea said, the entertainment in her voice suggesting she had thoroughly enjoyed watching a dragon shoot fireballs at romans.

"You mean you stole another ship," Hiccup interjected, crossing his arms over his chest out of habit – and nearly losing his balance because of this when he tried to jump over a large shrubbery.

"Commandeered it is the term I believe? And you helped."

"Well, I wouldn't say I volunteered for it…"

Astrid rolled her eyes at the argument; clearly there was a difference in their moral standards. Hiccup was too noble a man to be the raiding sort of Viking, that's for sure. "Just get on with it. What happened next?"

"Long story short: one of Toothless' fireballs hit the egg by mistake…" Hiccup had stopped dead in his tracks without even realizing it, gesturing to the ground of the forest as if he were re-living the scene right there. "And the thing just bursts into flames for a few seconds, but the wood caught on fire right away. Then I don't know why, but Toothless just jumped in and grabbed the egg in his mouth."

By now Hiccup's hands were near his face, shaking over it in dramatic motions, lost in the visuals of what he was re-living, "And we kind of had to clear the ship and everything. We didn't get all the stuff out, but Toothless had the egg in his mouth. He placed it on the floor of the docks – and it was covered in dragon spit and it smelled like fish, you know? But it was so cool – and it was just this… red shell kind of thing. It started melting and –"

"And Alaelding was born!" Ellea concluded with a proud smile, gesturing at the silver dragon on her shoulder, who cooed. "Ran straight toward me with these big purple eyes and I just fell in love!"

The beautiful silver dragon looked nothing like the sketch Hiccup had added to the Book of Dragons, though, and Astrid's confusion completely showed in her face.

"She sort of looked like a grey newt when she was born… Oh, sorry," Hiccup held up his hands placatingly as both master and dragon glared at him. "I really need to update that entry on the Book of Dragons. And find a proper name for it."

Astrid remembered it; the one Tuffnut had lovingly named Mini Mudgruntle. It definitely did not look like anything mud-related anymore, and it was no longer the size of a hand.

"She has name; Alaelding," Ellea repeated sternly as if Hiccup had forgotten something terribly important, turning her back to the couple and resuming her march. Toothless warbled up ahead, jumping excitedly in his place, and Alaelding bounced after him.

"I meant for her species." Hiccup droned. Astrid noticed his curiosity only peaked the more he looked at the dragon. She found herself strangely interested in it, too.

"She has changed a lot, and I believe is still growing. She gets more heavy by the weeks."

How strange. Most of the dragons they knew would grow big within a few months, except for the Terrible Terrors.

"So after Alael was born, Hiccup helps us learn more about her. He didn't want to help us get the new ship," Ellea laughed, obviously finding Hiccup's ideals to be somewhat comical, "but taught us many things of the dragons. For that, we are grateful. Knowledge is wealth, and wealth is power."

Astrid was caught unaware; this woman hadn't initially seemed like the type of person who sought greater awareness. What kind of a pirate was she?

"Now, I need to know what has happened. How you two landed in here. This is not a place easy to reach from where you live," Elleanora said, concern now scratching her voice, "I cannot understand how you got here."

Hiccup sighed, scratching the back of his head in that nervous quirk of his.

"We were pulled into a storm while we were flying…" he began by saying. Ellea stumbled gracelessly and turned to look at Hiccup with wide, startled eyes, a flash of wild curiosity behind her stare.

"Tell me all about it."

He told her, leaving out the details of his and Astrid's predicament regarding his engagement. Ellea listened intently from then on, never interrupting. By the end of it, she looked heavily pensive.

"We must move quickly," she kept repeating. "You have gone too far in this wilderness. The deeper inside the heart of it, the more terrible the nights become."

Astrid and Hiccup exchanged glances, and she knew immediately they shared the same thought. Last night had been… startling, to say the least.

"What do you mean, the nights become terrible?" Astrid asked.

Ellea looked back for a moment, "How did you feel yesterday, after the sun gave its way to the moon?"

Astrid mulled over it; she'd felt lost, hurt, confused, sad… scared.

"Hopeless," Hiccup replied, his eyes fixed upon Astrid. "Like I'd lost everything I had worth fighting for."

Yes; Astrid had felt hopeless too. She just nodded, then, seeing the way Hiccup looked at her. I don't want to lose you. I can't.

"You see, this forest bathes us with beauty and warmth by day," Ellea said, oblivious to the lovers' moment, "but when náat comes and steals away the sun…" She paused with a heavy breath. "Men have dared into this forest before. Of the few who came back, even fewer stayed sane. This place does something to you. Night steals away any illusion of beauty brought by sunlight; it fills your mind with worrisome thoughts and your heart with fears. The more nights in here, the worse the fear gets. Until it takes over."

"How do you know that?" Hiccup asked; Astrid noticed him walking closer to her, now; she made no movement to pull away.

"We seek information before going places on our business, how do you think?" Ellea replied with a humourless chuckle. "Survivors told tales. People speak in rumours. That is why we camp and sleep by the edge of the forest; it is safest. All these islands carry dangers."

"Islands… You mean there's more than one like this?" Astrid wanted to know as much information as possible. The questions burned the tip of her tongue with an unrestrained rush; it was like the more information she was given, the more she needed to know.

"There are three, people say. This is the second we visit, and have been here four days and three nights. We have one more isle to search."

This definitely had Astrid's curiosity peaked; she wondered what it was about this place that was worth the danger. It had to be good. "What are you searching for?"

"I cannot tell; it is but a job. We need not believe in what we are asked, but we will do it for the right price," Ellea replied, looking back with a faint smile on her lips. "We must make a living, as do others."

Hiccup snorted then, but said nothing else.

"You should know of this: you were lucky to have been together. They say this place is cursed, but its magic cannot taint enamoured minds so easily."

Astrid worked the information in her mind, thinking back to the urgent desperation with which she had sought solace in Hiccup's embrace. It all made sense now; they had kept each other sane through the night. If Astrid had walked away as she wanted, if Hiccup hadn't gone after her and convinced her they needed to stay together… Astrid didn't want to think about it. Her recklessness and clouded judgement could have had even worse consequences; she was angry at herself, for her lack of judgement... Yet grateful at the same time. A strange sense of thankfulness descended upon her then.

She could find no words to express herself; at least, not now. So she did what she felt was right – she gently took his hand and pulled it to her face, kissing it so softly it was as if her lips never even met his skin. Hiccup gazed at her fondly, smiling, he too understanding the implications of Ellea's words.

They made the rest of their trip to camp wordlessly, hands held together, as Toothless and Ellea lead the way through a path that had already been cleared.

The sun's position indicated the afternoon was well under way when they finally arrived at the camp. It was just outside of the forest, at that point where trees began to give way to sand. The beach was long and hot, unforgiving to incautious bare feet. And in sea, many yards away, a heavy vessel floated calmly upon the unstirring waters, firmly anchored to the oceanic floor. There were three small boats ashore, certainly the ones they used to travel from the beach to the ship.

Some people huddled around tents; some were cooking, others seemed to be simply dozing it off. A pair of men sat at an improvised table, looking at a map. They hardly took notice of the arriving group, until Ellea clicked her tongue.

At the signal, Alaelding carefully jumped from her master's shoulders. Right before she hit the ground, a set of pitch black claws – long and sinuous – erupted from her digits. As if that weren't unexpected enough, the silver dragon broke into a wild sprint, reaching the camp within a heartbeat.

"She's fast!" Hiccup exclaimed, his eyes widening as he admired the dash of silver running toward the camping site. "The only dragons I've seen moving faster than that on land are Speed Stingers."

The people from the camp took notice of them and waved; some stopped mid-motion, inspecting the newcomers with studious apprehension.

"Does she have claws?" Astrid asked Ellea directly, as her eyes scanned the unknown faces.

"She does, yet keeps them in! But she cannot fly," Ellea answered, "so please don't mention it. She becomes a little… sensitive."

"Wait. Your dragon is afraid… of flying?" Astrid thought it made no sense; Alaelding had wings wonderfully fit for flight.

"It is the only trait she and my husband seem to share," Ellea replied with a smile.

"Apparently we also have to share you," said a man, rising from his place at the spindly table, "and the food." The last remark was clearly meant for Alaelding, who promptly ignored it and just sat on her haunches, lazily stretching her wings before she jumped playfully after Toothless.

The moment he fixed his attentions on them, however, he seemed taken aback. Surprised, just as Ellea had been.

He certainly matched Stoick the Vast in height, and his chest was, arguably, almost as wide. Brown hair pulled back in a loose ponytail, strands of it falling haphazardly around his face, a trimmed beard shading his angled jawline. The sleeveless, faded blue shirt revealed muscled arms that were littered in scars; he had a particularly nasty one on the side of his neck, a pattern of mismatching skin criss-crossing like a snake. He seemed to count less than 30 springs, but his black eyes and the marks on his arms told the tale of someone much older, much more tired.

In just a few quick strides, he made it to their side. He bowed to Astrid, first, before taking Hiccup's hand in a hearty shake; an incredulous look still stamped on his face. Astrid noticed his left hand was gloved, in spite of the intense heat.

"This is my husband. Mateo, this is Astrid." Ellea waved her hand between the two; Mateo nodded in understanding. Clearly, he'd heard of her before.

"How did you two get here?" he asked, eyeing them – and Toothless, who was sniffing him curiously – with arched eyebrows. "Did you fly all the way here ?" The way his face contorted at the thought was a pretty obvious indication that he was not, by any means, a fan of soaring up in the skies.

"A tale for another time. They are tired, and need rest and food. After they fill their bellies, we will try to… make sense of all of this," Ellea shook her head and sighed, rubbing her temples with her hands, sparing a wary glance at her company. "Come, you will meet the rest of my crew. Taste our food, and leave words for later. We have used salt… claimed from the useless romans." Elleanora gestured toward the pot above the crackling fire, clearly taking a jab at Hiccup by mentioning the origin of the food's seasoning.

And so, Astrid was quickly introduced to the other members of this group of marauders. They didn't appear threatening, but they also didn't look friendly; she could hear them whispering between themselves as she and Hiccup walked past, fingers pointed mostly at Toothless. The Night Fury looked wary, but not aggressive.

Astrid's gaze was inevitably dragged toward the ship swaying in the still, deep blue waters; at least they finally had a way to get out of this tropical maze. But there was no way she'd trust these people anytime soon.

She tried focusing on the names, but she was far too hungry and thirsty to bother registering most of them. Roberto, Kalis, Agaurd, Herios, Davi, Nyvam. Other names that sounded very foreign to her, but the only sound she truly focused on right now was that of her hungry stomach. It had been over two days since her last full meal, and the fact that she hadn't been feeding properly in the prior week only worsened it.

Astrid helped Hiccup remove the saddle from Toothless' body; it was useless until the mechanic tailfin was repaired, and there were no tools in camp set for the task. Toothless was hungry, and without his working tailfin he could not fish, Hiccup explained. But Mateo said that the fish near the coast were lazy and easy to catch.

As she waited for her meal, Astrid watched Toothless bound comically down the white sand of the beach, hurl himself carelessly yet gracefully into the salty water, and – quickly enough – emerge while chewing some fish in his mouth.

She and Hiccup were given water and cheese, bread and fish, then some fruits Astrid had never tasted. One of the women began skinning the overgrown rabbit while they ate; Astrid watched the task absent-mindedly, but after the intake of food her brain began gaining focus. She noticed people seemed to be communicating in an assortment of languages Astrid wasn't used to, although most of them seemed to at least be capable of scratching up some basic Norse.

"Mateo, bring the map," Ellea spoke softly, gesturing at her husband, "we should speak inside our tent."

Their tent was the largest, enough to fit about ten people inside. There was a large feather mattress on the left corner, surrounded by silks and colourful pillows, separated by a painted wooden screen; at the centre stood a small table with three single benches, writing sticks and scrolls scattered across its surface. Toothless could have fit inside, but he'd been up all night long; so he just ambled into the forest, hung himself upside-down by the tail on a sturdy tree, and dozed off to sleep. Alaelding chose to sleep by Toothless' side, climbing the tree like a cat and resting languidly upon the same branch.

Mateo closed the tent, granting them all privacy. He lit up a candle and stood by the table, inviting them all to sit down.

It was time for explanations; Hiccup repeated the story on how they'd gotten there. Astrid watched Mateo's demeanour – like he was having a hard time believing all of this. His silent disbelief grew tenser with each word; his eyes seemed to darken by the instant.

Mateo cleared the table and unravelled the large map upon the gnawed surface, stretching it out, its edges falling off the furniture's frame. "This is your Barbaric Archipelago…" he said, his index finger pointing to the familiar formation of islands. Then he dragged his finger across it; across the ocean, a large area with no lands nearby, until it finally stopped. "This is where we are."

The air was still with silence and withheld breaths as the information sunk in.

This was impossible. It was too far away.

"I can't believe this… Where are we?" Hiccup gasped, his head shaking; out of shock, he wrapped his right arm around Astrid's waist and pulled her to him. She felt his fist clench, gripping the fabric of her shirt, unintentionally causing a sudden jolt of pain to her ribs. She winced, yet he failed to notice. "How is this possible?"

"We do not know the answers for this," Ellea said, two fingers toying distractedly with a strand of her black hair. "But we may know of someone who could help."

Mateo shifted uncomfortably; he glanced at his wife with solemn apprehension. She locked her eyes on his, determined to show she was set on her intentions, and spoke to him in a language Astrid couldn't understand. But the tone in her voice, it was unmistakeable. They argued, softly at first; however their voices began to rise, as if they had forgotten about their guests.

"We must help them, as he and his dragon helped us!" Ellea barked back in Norse, determined to end the conversation.

There was a small pause; a hint of hesitation. "As you wish," Mateo replied at last, also in Norse. Then he turned to Hiccup, "You do deserve this much. But you should come clean; why would you go flying with such bad weather? Only fools would risk such a thing."

Mateo was sticking his finger in the wound; Hiccup didn't want to go there.

Ellea spoke up again. "Their reasons are not of concern to us, cariño." Astrid picked up this one foreign word, but could not recognize it. "If they are ready, they shall speak of it. For now, perhaps, we should tell the others. One last night on this place will suffice. What we search for does not seem to be in here."

Mateo crossed his large, scarred arms over his broad chest and exited the tent, not another word from his lips.

Ellea smiled softly, apologetically, resting her elbows on the table. "Forgive him. It is not that he does not trust you, Hiccup. But the solution I see for your problem is not pleasing him."

"What solution would that be?" Hiccup asked, tilting his head out of habit; his grip on Astrid's tunic loosened.

"A wise woman. She is very old, very powerful. Mateo does not believe in Gods, or divine powers. He does not believe her. Says she is just old and crazy," Ellea shrugged, but her eyes were focused on Hiccup and Astrid. "Yet she foretold you would arrive. I could not believe… until I saw you."

"What do you mean?" Astrid asked. She believed in her own Gods, not the foreign ones. And being this far off her homeland, she verily doubted Ellea was referring to Norse deities. Still, all godly things had this sort of mystique wrapped around them; the notion of tampering with deities – of any kind – did not appeal to Astrid.

Ellea sighed. She stood, walked over to the mattress on the floor, and bent down. Silently, she pulled up a small chest from behind the screen and brought it to the table. It was made of black wood, engraved with a series of intricate designs, and opened to reveal a delicate-looking amphora. She took three black metal cups from inside the chest, pouring the contents of the amphora into them; the ruby liquid filled the air with an inviting, spicy aroma.

"Share this drink with me, as I will share our story with you," she raised her cup slightly toward them; Hiccup and Astrid mimicked the gesture. Cautious, Astrid waited for Ellea to swallow; only then was her tongue met with the flavoured fluid. The sweet taste lifted her spirits somewhat, and the strong afterbite it left in her mouth was a most welcome sensation. It was delicious, and helped her sharpen her focus.

"Romans may be swine, but they know to enjoy the finer things."

Hiccup's face fell a little. "I should have guessed." He glanced back down at the cup, twisted his nose, and took another sip anyway. Ellea smirked, nodding.

"We are on a quest," Ellea began, bending forward upon the wooden table, her voice lower than before, "not even all of our crew knows everything. We do not trust all of them; yet I will confide in you."

"But why?" Astrid asked, boggled. She couldn't keep the feeling of suspicion at bay, couldn't find it in herself to be as naïve as Hiccup, no matter what brief past those two may have shared.

"Because I do not believe in coincidences. You two rode a storm."

Ruffnut spoke to her brother in hushed tones as they handled bags filled with goods; even inside the safety of their own house, the looming sensation of danger from the other tribe seemed to cling to them, suspended in the air like a foul stench.

The gang wanted to be ready to go out as soon as the Chief issued to search for Hiccup and Astrid. Being prepared beforehand was a sure proof way to save time.

They were concerned, all of them; something was clearly wrong. And as a group of dragon riders and companions, they felt it was their obligation to help get to the bottom of this. For the sake of their friendship. For loyalty.

If they were discrete enough, they would all be able to leave unnoticed. Perhaps they would rally some younger riders, to cover more ground. Snotlout guaranteed he would make sure to talk to the young ones; he left in search of Gustav and his peers. Fishlegs went home to plan their routes on the maps. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were to gather some supplies.

They were doing this; they were saving their friends. They hated the whole business anyway. It didn't seem right, to force a marriage like this. What's worse – to that foul tribe.

The 'rescue mission' was about to happen. They had set their minds to it… But they could not have foreseen what was about to unfurl; nobody could have.

There was a knock on the door of the Thorston household; they could hear the Chief calling out from outside as he banged his fist on the wood, and the twins' mother scurried to open the creaky door.

Stoick and Athole made their way inside; Ruffnut and Tuffnut did their best to remain inconspicuous, hurriedly covering the items they'd been listing just a moment before. The way their Chief looked at them made Ruff's stomach plummet. Something was going on, and she had no idea how to play along with it.

Athole's unreadable gaze fell on Ruffnut; she shivered as he sized her, but stood in her place as the profane man took several steps closer.

"Blonde 'air, blue eyes… thought she'd be prettier, though," the outsider Chief growled, his voice dripping with mistrust.

"That's her," Stoick assured him with a nod. "She is the one they told you about."

Athole leaned in dangerously close; so close, Ruffnut could smell the vomit on his clothes, the wine and rot behind his breath as he spoke. She steeled her stomach, biting down the bile building in the back of her throat.

"Hiccup's girl, then… Aren't you?" He asked.

Ruffnut needed a moment to adjust to the words, to let her brain process the implication. She nodded, half-stunned, holding her breath in – not just because of the smell, but because of the realization of what was happening. Even her brother did; from the corner of her eye she saw him stiffen, his face twisting angrily, their mother finding support on his shoulders. They all remained silent.

"You weren't thinkin' 'o runnin' off after 'im, I wonder?" Athole's voice was calm, casual, cold. Dangerous.

"Of course not," Ruffnut blurted out, her mind reeling. What do I do, what do I say?

The foul foreigner smirked, one of his hands now resting on the pommel of the sword he carried at his waist. "Good thing, lass. I don' mind ye shaggin' 'im off in the sidelines, long as you keep any male bastards from spewin' out between yer legs. An' if a boy does come outta there," Athole pulled the sword just slightly from its hilt; it gleamed by the light of the fire from the hearth, "I'll personally lop the bloody 'ead off of it. You get this?"

Ruffnut nodded mechanically, replying with a very stiff "Yes." The part where he'd lop her head off too was left unsaid, but still crystal clear.

"That's enough now, Athole. You don't need to do this. I told you, Hiccup left because of problems in Glum –" Stoick began, but was interrupted by Athole's dismissive hand.

"Dun' care why the boy left or wha's he doin', Stoick. I dun' even care if he's offta find 'imself a whole ship full 'o concubines, just as long as he gets 'ere in time for the weddin'," Athole said, shrugging, slipping his sword back into its place. "Othe'wise, we're gonna have to think up a different solution…"

He looked around, then, his gaze falling on Tuffnut. "You 'ave a sister, girl?"

"I'm her brother," Tuffnut barked back, his blood just about to boil. Their mother's hold on his shoulders tightened instantly.

The Bunkerhead Chieftain merely laughed – a booming, crackling sound, oddly unsettling – and then turned to Stoick. "I'll need somethin' to ensure me it will all go according to plan; a token of your good faith, if you will."

Stoick couldn't even bother keeping his face devoid of anger, or his voice absent disgust. None of this seemed to phase Athole, anyway; the man was certainly used to causing this reaction on people. "How do you mean, Athole?"

"I'm leavin' me daughter 'ere at your care, with an escort of course… Per'aps we could trade in kind."

END OF CHAPTER 10

This chapter was becoming too long, so I had to break it off. :p

Again, story progress - no time for steamy Hiccstrid/Asscup moments in their current situation, anyway. They've gotten themselves into quite a big mess!

You can expect... something in the upcoming chapter though. XD