Chapter 8: Warriors

Made another mistake, but this time with names, it got a little mixed up in the earlier writings, so I've fixed it in previous chapter but I'll say it here, Thuggory and Mogadon's last name is meant to be Mackendale, because Montgomery is already the name of another character, so I've fixed that.

Also, I'd like to apologize for the longer wait than usual for this chapter, I've been working a lot and school will be starting up here soon, so with my other story updates will probably be a little more spread out, especially since I have another story I want to do (I will work on at most three stories) but I want to thank everyone for their patience! This chapter will be a little shorter than usual, but I promise after this the plot will really start to move!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the original storyline of the How to Train Your Dragon universe.

Unknown POV, London

The telegram had been sent from Paris to Germany earlier that morning, traveling the distance in mere minutes, a rate thought impossible by peoples generations before them. And yet, even with this, his country had managed to not only intercept this message, but to decrypt it and analyze it's contents. He reflected on that, noting how communication had advanced so quickly in this new, modern world, before the gravity of the note that was handed to him from his secretary hit in full force.

It was short, like all telegrams, that was what he noticed at first sight. What was different at the top was the seal, showing this one came from the British Admiralty of Her Majesty's Government. He groaned, wondering what the Royal Navy had sent to him. They rarely cooperated on anything of importance with the Army, it seemed to him.

The next detail was a little puzzling. While the seal indicated this was from the building of the Admiralty, the address of the sent denoted it was from the Naval Intelligence Division. He furrowed his brows, confused as to what this could be about. He unfolded the bottom half, beginning to read the contents of the telegram. By the end of it, he was grabbing his coat, ordering his secretary to call up his driver immediately and racing out the door.

"Get me to the Army Council. Whitehall, now!" The car lurched forward, and while it wasn't as quick to accelerate as a horse, it was soon racing at it's max through the crowded London streets. It didn't take them long to get to the location of the main body of British command for the Army.

Grabbing the telegram, he ran inside and up to the third floor, before realizing he needed to act civil and instead opted to walk at a brisk pace, holding his jacket over his forearm and the telegram in the other. He found the door he was looking and walked through, seeing the secretary sitting at her desk right behind it, to the side of the door leading to the room he needed to be.

"He's in a meeting right now, you can't go in, sir-sir, he's unavailable-" she stood up in protest, but this wasn't going to stop him, the general needed to see this now.

He opened the door, greeted by the sight of General Montgomery and another general, probably one of the ones responsible for the Africa campaign. Their conversation was immediately halted, both turning to look at him, and suddenly his voice faltered, "There's…There's a telegram, sir,…Rather important…umm, I think you should see this…" he handed General Montgomery the telegram, who apologized to his guest before grabbing his spectacles and holding it up to read.

Not a second passed before he again apologized to the guest and rather abruptly dismissed him, following him out and closing the door and locking it. He turned back around, "How sure are you of this information, Major?"

"Pretty sure, sir. I received other details of it from a second telegram, and from that I know Room 40 received the telegram maybe two days ago, but as they are prioritizing decrypting any intelligence related to the German's U-Boat campaign, this one was set aside until there was more manpower available, so they don't really know when it was actually received."

"Christ. Do they know how this happened?"

"No word on that yet, but they can be sure the War Office may have been infiltrated. My affiliates in Scotland Yard say that they believe it may more likely to have been infiltration, as there was no increased telegram traffic, ruling out decryption, and since it's not in the newspapers no one leaked it. Someone found this out."

"Yes, and now the whole thing is compromised."

"Forgive me for asking, sir, but how does this hurt the program? I mean, these men are serving and some of them are mentioned in newspapers when fighting with their assigned units, how is it-"

"Frankly, what it now means is that the Germans have knowledge of our use of unconventional warfare and tactics. I know that secrecy was a bit of problem at the beginning, especially with Ser-Corporal Haddock's heroic actions, but there was never worry the Germans would discover the program or it's objectives. Now that they know of it's existence, they could target our soldiers involved and we'd lose some of the nation's most elite, as well as the potential to develop decent tactical intelligence service and they could bloody well steal the idea and organization from us!" he took off his glasses and called for his secretary to bring in Major General Mackendale. He walked in not five minutes later.

"General Montgomery, you requested me for something urgent?"

"Read this, General Mackendale, and tell me what you think." He handed General Moga-Mackendale, he reminded himself, the telegram.

CLASSIFIED: TOP SECRET

To: Major Hendrickson, Army Intelligence

From: Col. Macdonagh, Naval Intelligence Division

German spy network active in London. Infiltration of key offices possible. Depth unknown. Possible ties to rogue Baltic agents. No Austro-Hungarian involvement uncovered at this time.

Discovery of classified programs confirmed. Names of compromised classified programs mentioned explicitly in message.

ARGONAUT has been compromised.

Repeat. ARGONAUT has been compromised. ARGONAUT Operatives exposed. Recommending termination of operational status of all ARGONAUT operatives.

Hiccup's POV

Hiccup woke up to the sound of the adhan, the Islamic call to prayer recited by the muezzin through a horn, amplifying the sound for all the city to hear from the mosque. It immediately told him that it must be first light, or at least approaching first light. He rubbed his eyes and looked around him, noticing Astrid sleeping on his lap. She must have had a nice rest, he thought, almost laughing at how messed up her hair was. He took in his surroundings as the gears in his head began to power up and move, slowly bringing himself closer and closer to being fully awake.

The sun was not yet up, but the light was beginning to show over the horizon, the faint orange glow creeping up into the sky, like a rising fire. He carefully removed Astrid's head from his lap and set it softly down on the floor, before getting up and picking up his rifle. The memories of last night came back to him, and while normally he would chastise himself for falling asleep on watch, yesterday was a little bit more stressful that usual, so he gave himself a pass. The last thing he remembered was Toothless falling asleep, and judging from how long it had been dark, he must have fallen asleep sometime around 2:00 in the morning. He checked his watch.

5:00, just great.

He walked over to the ledge and looked down at the trenches, not surprised that all of his older soldiers were awake and gearing up, while the newer Berkians were still sleeping. They needed to get a move on for the day. They still needed to pack up their rations for the next few weeks, water, too, and other supplies for the raids. He still hadn't made up his mind on whether or not he was taking the column at full strength or leaving the recruits behind.

The voice of the muezzin was still going, reciting words Hiccup didn't know, but that didn't matter. It was a nice wake up, like an alarm clock that wasn't annoying or dangerous. He had only heard one once before, when they were in Palestine, briefing for their Gallipoli reconnaissance. It was calming, but so far the only times he had heard was before venturing out behind the lines of the enemy.

Funny, both times we, faced Ottomans. This time, however, they had horses which was an advantage, but inexperienced soldiers, which was a disadvantage. Not to mention ones that were not trained in survival, horseback combat, desert warfare, raiding, special reconnaissance… Oh boy this is not going to be easy, he thought to himself. Inwardly, he debated whether or not he was supposed to take the new 'recruits'.

On the one hand, there was never anything bad with having more guns firing in the same direction, especially since the size of his team had dwindled to only three men. And they were completely useless in combat, either, he was rather surprised at the effectiveness and teamwork the twins showed. Plus, they had been in combat in the jungles, so they were familiar with some element of survival, probably. Hopefully.

However, he was worried about the disadvantages. Fishlegs was already showing signs that he was not fit for combat, Snotlout was probably the most disobedient soldier he'd ever commanded, and the fact remained that the new arrivals were extremely inexperienced with the combat they were presently in and the combat they would see on the Western Front. He still struggled to figure out why General Montgomery had sent them to him. They weren't from the Scots Guards, nor any of the Foot Guard's divisions. Come to think of it, he still didn't know where they even came from. I swear to Thor, if they are just one of those flying columns...

He was enraptured in his eternal debate that he didn't even notice that he was running his fingers through Astrid's hair. And he wouldn't have noticed it either if he hadn't heard felt her moving in her sleep, humming in satisfaction to him threading his fingers through her blonde hair. He stopped immediately out of shock, but after the initial recovery, he resumed the activity, but this time slower.

I wish this moment could go on forever, he thought, thinking of how, maybe in another universe, they would be in the same situation, but on a hillside in Scotland, the lush meadows around them, the wind blowing softly and pushing the grass softly, just like her hair.

Instead, they were in Arabia, with nothing but heat, Ottoman soldiers, water shortages, and nomadic Arab tribesman that, frankly, he could never whose side they were on. It seemed as if they could switch allegiances in the blink of an eye. Not to mention the sand, incompetent soldiers and officers and the lack of a clear military objective other than following the orders of the superior officer.

But, it was better than being in the trenches in Flanders, or the Dolomites. He still hated Major General Hammond for that clandestine mission. Italy hadn't even entered the war at the time, and yet he ordered Hiccup to take a few volunteer Italian soldiers from a friendly general to scout the Austro-Hungarian defenses in the mountains.

The worst part is that after they told the fallen soldier's family he died in an avalanche, they disregarded my intelligence. From what he'd heard about Italy's entry into the war, it was pretty , the incompetence of his superiors made him considering to quit the program, but by staying on, he was avoiding the trench warfare and the subsequent raids he would have to carry out for a little longer. Still, it angered him that the 'intelligence gathering' and 'scouting' portion of his job were being ignored by the same group of people who put the program together. They probably think that we aren't reporting it accurately to save men, or they just really want medals, he thought to himself.

Underneath him, Astrid stirred a little more, humming in her sleep and grabbing his hand, bringing it underneath his head and using it as a pillow. Hiccup was immediately knocked out of his internal scathing of his superiors and thrown back into the real world, his cheeks burning at the image of Astrid Hofferson humming in her sleep and using his hand as a pillow. She hummed again, and he smiled, bringing his cheek to hers and hugging her, albeit a bit awkwardly.

Unconsciously, Astrid brought her own hands up to Hiccups head and back and pulled him in closer, humming once again. Hiccup closed his eyes and tried to picture the two together somewhere else, somewhere far away from all of the world's conflict and death and suffering. Far from Arabia, far from Africa and the Pacific, far from the Russian front, far from the Italian Front, and far from the Western Front. He wanted to be with her far away from this terrible conflict, holding her in his arms without the fear of never seeing her again, without the fear of either one of them leaving this world and condemning the other to heartbreak. He didn't want her to see how war was fought or what it did to the minds and bodies of people, or maybe he didn't want her to see what it did to him.

While Hiccup had casually dated some other girls after his training was over and before the war began, those paled in comparison to how he felt with Astrid right now. She was amazing, trusting and easy to talk to, as well as being downright beautiful. She's smart, she's brave, she's honest and upfront, she's…I mean, she's Astrid Hofferson! If he was being quite honest with himself, Hiccup honestly still couldn't get over the fact that she had wanted to date him, thinking back to how he stormed out of the ball after the Belgian and French officers berated him, leaving Astrid there, alone. And yet, she searched and found him, and didn't talk about why he had left. He assumed that maybe Gabriel had told her something about it, or maybe even Thug's father, but she still didn't question him about any of it.

For her sake, and somewhat, for his, he hoped she stayed far from the war.

Then again, this was Astrid Hofferson, and he suspected that she was going to be in the thickest fighting there was, because she would request it and do her duty to prove to anyone the Hoffersons were not scared easily. Knowing her, she was going to find her way to the worst areas to clear her name of her uncle's condition.

"Had a good sleep last night, did ya?"

"WHA-" Hiccup whipped his head around, hands still holding Astrid's head, to see a smirking Thuggory leaning against the far ledge, rifle slung over his shoulder and a newly lit cigarette between his teeth. "What are you doing up here, Thug?"

"Well, I came to see if you were up, expecting to find you dozing off, but not with such a pretty lady…" He nodded his head towards Astrid's sleeping form.

"I…I-I-I…Uhhhh," Hiccup rubbed the back of his head, laughing awkwardly, "yeah, soooo, ummm…"

"You two are dating, yes?" Thug used his cigarette as a pointer, the red glow moving between them like some sort of magic wand.

"Ummm," how am I going to respond to this? "well, actually, it's kind of complicated. You see, she's, uhhhh… a friend from back home…Ba-Ba-Back in Berk, soooooo…"

"Sir, just say yes. It's going to be a less painful for both of us."

"Oh ok, fine. Yes. Astrid and I are dating. But, as the other officer in charge, I am ordering you not to tell anyone about this. Understood?"

"Has it really taken you this long to pull rank on me?"

"Thug, come on."

"Ok, fine. Understood, sir. So you get one trip to Paris and you come back with a girlfriend?"

"Haha, very funny, to be honest Paris wasn't that great anyways."

"Yeah? Well, you can tell me while we look over the map I stole from the lieutenant, we should figure out our plan."

"Yeah, yeah, we should probably do that," Hiccup carefully moved Astrid's head off of his hands and lap, gently setting her down on the ground before picking up his rifle and walking over to the ledge Thuggory was standing at. "Toothless makes a great guard dog, he's not even awake."

"Well, he looked over when I came up a while ago, but once he saw it was me, he went back to sleep."

"Yeah, um, seeing as the door is still locked, how did you get up here? Did you climb?!"

"Yeah. So?"

"Are you…nevermind. If you hurt yourself, I will write you up."

"You do realize our section probably has the most write ups by superior officers out of the entire Scots Guards?"

"Yeah, but honestly, who gets written up on a report because they have dirt on their rifle or their uniform isn't properly buttoned?"

"Pretty sure the Sergeant was just wanting to mold us into a bunch of sheep, because a buddy of mine said they aren't even that stringent in the Lilywhites."

"Yeah, it looks real good if they are absurdly strict and unforgiving here in the Kiddies." They both shared a chuckle as Thuggory unrolled the map, "Thug, why did you even steal this map?"

"I didn't want to ask for it."

"Bu-…Ahh-…Why?"

"He might have said no?"

Hiccup closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Why would you steal the map, Thuggory? "Thuggory, do you really think he would've said no?"

"I mean, there was a chance…"

"Ok, Thuggory, we are guests, and more importantly, he might need that map! What if he plans the evacuation and walk back poorly and people die?"

"Ok, well, first off, this map is of the region in the opposite direction of where we are going," he said, as he flung the map out in front of him and laid it out on the ledge, smoothing it down so Hiccup could see the name of the region: Rub' al Khali.

"Ah, yes…The largest desert in the world. Thug, why did you bring me this? We could hit the coastal towns or ports, and don't make me go into the pros and cons."

"Well, yes, we could do that, but..." He pointed to a specific part in the western side of the desert, "We may have some big scores here. You know how the Ottomans keep raiding the Suez, right?"

"Yeah, but that's so far away from their territory-"

"I know, but they can't get far without supplies, right? And the majority of their army has to cross some part of the desert, as do their supplies, and this supply depot right here is positioned perfectly to receive incoming supplies and troops, in Nasiriyah. If we can disable the railroads around the town and scout the depot and camps there for intel…"

"We could buy the Suez time to repair and give the garrison some relief, and find out what the Ottoman's next moves are! Thug, that's brilliant!"

"Thank you, sir-"

"Thug, there's no one else around, you don't have to call me sir!"

"Sorry, it's a habit!"

"Ok, but we still need to discuss what to do about some other things, like how we plan to cross the largest desert in the world." The two talked for about half an hour, the sun's rays growing stronger and more vibrantly orange and red on the horizon. They had resolved to escort the garrison at Lahij back to Aden, then they world board the plane and, if they had enough fuel, fly to British-controlled Basra and proceed the rest of the way on horse or camelback. They had resolved all other questions, until only one question remained.

"Thug, I need to ask you something."

"Yeah, what is it," he asked while rolling up the map to it's original state.

"We never got word of whether or not our new hands would be joining…well…the company, so I'm at odds to whether or not we want to take them with us on this mission, or the raids or anything. I don't know if they're being tested for this, or what…"

"Well, we were given our tests at Frontiers, you kind of got another one in the Dolomites…"

"Don't remind me, they told me it was a mission, but I knew that Hammond was just trying to repeat the whole 'one man army' thing."

"Anyways, what I'm saying is that our tests for selection were all under pretty odd circumstances, so maybe they are in the trial portion of the exam?"

"Yeah, but our whole…thing, our company, is full of elites of the Army: Foot Guards. Sharpshooters, Lovell's Scouts, you know, the guys who know a thing or two. My old friends down there," he pointed to the sleeping Berkians, "they might as well be civilians with guns. They know a little, but not much, haven't seen real combat yet, other than yesterday, and half of them don't even obey my orders."

"Look, you leave the order following to me, I can beat them into line."

"Really? What is this, are you practicing in case they promote you before me, or something?"

"Well, I mean, yes…"

"You just want to yell at Snotlout, don't you?"

"Oh come on! Everything he is and stands for pisses me off, and I love yelling at him! Don't take this away from me!"

"Alright, calm down." The two gave each other a quick pat on the back, and looked down at the soldiers in the streets beginning to load up carts and wagons for the trek back. His Berkians still hadn't woken up, and Snotlout had left his food container sitting right above him on the top of the trench.

Thuggory, Hiccup noticed, had been eyeing it the past ten minutes. "Uhhh…Thuggory…What are you thinking about?"

"Do you think I could hit Snotface's container and wake him up by dropping it on his face? At the very least getting shot at would do it…" He unslung his rifle and began adjusting his sights.

"Snotlout, and honestly, Thuggory, I don't know."

"Why, think you could do better?"

"Think? I know."

"Pfft, really? What about the captain you missed Gallipoli?"

"I told you, there was a scorpion on my arm!"

"That is the dumbest excuse I've ever heard-"

"You don't think I can hit it?"

"A week's worth of rum rations and cigarettes says you can't,"

"Two weeks rum, and then you've got yourself a bet."

"No cigarettes?"
"No, you know I don't smoke that much," Hiccup unslung his rifle as well, taking care to adjust the iron sights on his rifle, "Alright, all lined up to take your liquor. We got a bet?"

"Bet." The two shook hands while still aiming down their rifle sights, their lefts hands never leaving the rifle and their eyes never leaving their target.

Hiccup took a breath in. He measured the wind in his head, there wasn't that much anyway, and at this distance he made the calculation that he wouldn't need to adjust for wind at all.

He slowed his breathing, counting the space in between his breaths and slowly inching his trigger finger up to the trigger, until it was lightly pressed against it.

Then, it was like everything around him slowed down. His breathing became even slower, and he found the time between heartbeats and began to squeeze his finger, then, calmly, but quickly, depressing the trigger, and…

oOo

Astrid's POV

BANG!

Whatever dream Astrid was in the middle of, and she was sure it was a good one because she hadn't woken up yet, was ended in the blink of an eye, or the flash of a rifle, and she shot up, all of sudden scared and worried that the town was once again under attack.

Instead, her eyes were met with the sight of a giant, black dog that had just woken up, looking somewhat grumpy, and two soldiers celebrating over something.

Scratch that, Hiccup and one of his soldiers, she was pretty sure his name was Thuggory, celebrating. Like children. "What happened," she asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Hiccup turned, looking somewhat guilty.

"Oh, Astrid, sorry, I…Uhh…" he pointed to Thuggory, "He made me shoot the container above Snotlout's head to wake up our newest additions."

"Oh WHAT? We both shook on that bet, you-" Hiccup held a finger up to silence him.

"Ah bup bup BUP! Commanding officer…"

"Why, you-"

"Did you hit it?" Her question made him turn back around, a smile on his face.

"Oh, yeah, yeah I nailed it." She grinned, getting up and walking over to the ledge to see Snotlout angrily throwing his ruined water flask at a nearby building. "Won't he be mad that he doesn't have a container to eat from?"

"Oh, we have plenty of containers, it's the water we are short on." Thuggory answered this, "It's not like we were shooting his water supply."

"Oh," she turned to Hiccup and lowered his voice, "You don't need to punish Snotlout for your childhood, you know," a smile still on her face. Hiccup, luckily, caught the humor in the statement.

"Yeah, well…I'm the one in charge of him now, so I can treat him like dirt all I want," he said with some poor manliness. Nevertheless, she found it cute.

She stared into his eyes, seeing that happiness she saw when they were in Paris together. The green, the joy behind them at being with her, mirrored the same eyes she saw that night they kissed in the most romantic city in the world.

But, she knew they weren't the same green eyes she had shunned in her childhood in Berk. She ignored him then, and now, while she could still the happiness in his eyes, the innocence was gone. The fires of youth were extinguished by the explosion that was warfare. The war had hardened him, she saw, and while he was still remarkably normal, she hoped he would never collapse under the pressure of combat, like the other men she had seen on the docks in Calais.

And, hoped he never went berserk like he said he did in Northern France and kill everyone around him.

"So, umm, uhh…I have to go help Heather and doctor…" Do I even know his name? "I have to help them get the supplies ready…Well, probably wake them up and then get everything ready."

"Oh," he said with a hint of sadness, "I would walk you down, but…"

"Actually, sir, I can handle getting everyone ready."

"Thuggory, no-"

"It's alright, sir, I got this. Spend time with Miss…?"

"Hofferson," she replied, blushing a little. As much as she didn't like the fact that this Thuggory already knew they were dating, apparently, she figured Hiccup had told him to keep quiet.

Well, I hope he did.

"Umm, well…"

"I mean, sir, there were what appeared to be spotting rounds fired yesterday, and since the Lieutenant never made us find the guns…"

"You're right, Thuggory, in case of an artillery attack, I should be with someone who knows what they're doing!" If my playing along means I get to see Hiccup blush again, oh I'm so down for that, she thought to herself. Hiccup, on the other hand, didn't appear to want to play along with them.

"What are you talking about? Astrid, you've lived through artillery barrages, look at yesterday!"

"Yeah, but what if this one is worse?" The three sided argument went on for about another five minutes before, much to Astrid's pleasure, Hiccup caved.

"Fine, I'll escort you back to the Aid Station, Thuggory, you handle getting everyone mounted and ready." Hiccup grabbed his rifle and a few other things before waking Toothless and moving with Astrid toward the door. He held it open, Toothless going first, followed by Astrid. Astrid gave a small curtsy, which made Hiccup turn red again before the two walked down the stairs and out the door to the street they walked up last night.

The sun was just starting to rise, the horizon becoming less crimson and more orange, the rays of light shooting through the clouds and beginning to disperse the darkness and the stars. There was a cool breeze blowing through the air, reminding Astrid of the semi-warm summer nights at Berk that were so rare. Hiccup must have noticed, as he told her that the coolness would probably last only another hour or so, before the sun began to cook the desert and everything in it.

They walked down the street in relative silence. Hiccup seemed preoccupied with something, probably figuring out their withdrawal and what his next move was, and Astrid did not want to interrupt his thinking. After all, she should also be thinking about the next move was going to be for her and Heather. They had yet to receive any substantial orders from the new doctor, since the senior surgeon was killed during the attack, yet he seemed inexperienced and not knowing what to do.

However, she assumed they would be told to stay in Aden while the ICRC filed a complaint with the Ottoman Empire about the indiscriminate shelling and killing of Red Cross personnel as well as civilians.

Not that it would do that much, she doubted any country would listen to a letter from the Red Cross telling them how to conduct a war.

They turned a corner and soon arrived at the building which housed the Aid Station she was working at, but unusually there was a large gathering of both civilians and soldiers outside the building.

"Stay here, I'll go check it out," Hiccup said, unslinging his rifle and walking towards the Raj guards, Toothless close behind. They talked, Hiccup making no moves indicating he was going inside, and from Astrid's view it looked pretty friendly, so that was a good sign. She hoped.

A minute later, Hiccup was walking back towards her, his face looking grim. "Apparently, last night a group of the Sultan's soldiers stabbed their commander and a few others with their bayonets and left to join the Ottoman's ranks. According to some of the soldiers that knew them, they were younger and radical."

"What does that have anything to do with? Did they get paid more to fight us or something?"

"No, I think it has something to do with the Ottoman's Sheik calling a jihad when the war started."

"A what?"

"A holy war. You know, like the crusades but the other way around, they're going after us."

"Ok, but what does that have to do with this? I mean, it's still a war."

"Yeah, but because he called a holy war, it compels a lot more people to fight because they see it as defending their religion, whereas as in Britain, we just joined to fight for our country."

"Oh." That sounds really serious.

"Yeah, it's pretty bad. I'm going to have to head to the Lieutenant now because this means we'll have to speed up our withdrawal," he gave her a quick peck on her cheek, "ok bye! See you on the road or back in Aden!" He waved as he slung and rifle back over his shoulder and began jogging away, Toothless following right at his heels.

After watching him go, Astrid got to work, going through the guards (she just glared at them and they seemed to part before her) and found the young doctor, who was treating the wounded soldiers, and Heather, who was packing up the supplies.

"Hey," she said as she walked in.

"Hey," Heather responded with a short smile, before looking back towards the task at hand. It wasn't rudeness or distance, Astrid knew, but that both of them knew the time for small talk would come later, when there wasn't anything important at hand. They were similar like that.

Two hours later, when they had finished packing, they moved the crates onto the carts to be hauled with the column when the withdrawal began, which one of the English officers told her was going to commence in a few hours, when the sun was in the sky. Of course, this made Astrid nervous, because growing up in a village that was known for it's sailing and fighting history, she had learned that it was not only easier to navigate when the stars were on your side, but also night made it harder to fight and most would normally be sleeping at the time. We should've left last night, or at the very least wait until tonight when it gets dark. Then again, they were already low on water when they entered the city, and judging by how quickly they were able to load the crates onto the two wagons set aside for them, they were running low on medical supplies as well. In fact, they were only able to take up the first cart and half the second one. At least I won't have to walk the whole way back. She took a short sip of her water, looking towards the younger doctor as he was finishing his care of the Lahij wounded before walking towards the first wagon. If she had to guess, he was probably wanting to get out as soon as possible, as his last checks were pretty quick and he was walking faster than normal to get to his seat.

She tucked her canteen away, and walked towards the second wagon, climbing on and sitting next to Heather, who had, surprisingly, fallen asleep again.

"Really, Heather?" She said to herself, chuckling a little. Guess small talk will have to wait.

oOo

Hiccup's POV

"Why would you shoot that close to me, Hiccup?"

"Snotlout, not now," he turned to his dependable soldiers, "where's the Lieutenant?" They all shook their heads. "Anyone?"

"Uhh, I think he was supervising the artillery guns and moving them." Thank you Fishlegs

"Alright, get everything packed and ready to go, check your ammo and if you need more, get it before we mount up, we're not stopping on the way back. And save your water, there might not be anymore until we get back to Aden." He took running towards the artillery battery, a little ticked the Lieutenant had decided to spend his time supervising what was basically just hooking the gun's lower carriage onto a team of horses or camels, if they were really short on horses. "It's not like we have a couple hundred men that need to be rounded up and ready to go in a few hours, but they're all wandering around like a bunch of aimless idiots, right Toothless?" Toothless barked, and Hiccup liked to think that his dog was agreeing with him.

Hiccup found the Lieutenant, asked a few questions that got some not so helpful answers, and made sure he was aware that there were deserted soldiers with a knowledge of the withdrawal. He was, but, according to this superior dumbass, a few soldiers were not that much of a threat to an organized column.

"And if what if they alert the Ottoman soldiers to our withdrawal?"

"I really don't think they'd do that."

"Reeeeaaallly?" Hiccup did his best not to role his eyes. "Enlighten me as to why not?"

"Well, they fought for the sultan. You think the Ottomans would believe them?"

"Actually, sir, yes, I do," he turned away and walked off without saying another word.

Two hours later, the column was finally assembled, and finally they were getting ready to move. No one had said much of a word, especially since Snotlout got chewed out by Thuggory for leaving food outside the trench, which to the new ones seemed like a small offense.

But, to Hiccup, Thuggory, Speedifist, Nobrains and Wartihog knew better than to play that safely. It was better to err on the side of caution.

By the time the column was moving out, Hiccup didn't think the Lieutenant could make anymore stupid choices. But, by putting Astrid, Heather and that young doctor near the front of the column was probably a new record.

Funny, he didn't get this feeling about him earlier, he hated that he was just now realizing the man was incompetent.

"Hey, ummm, Hiccup?"

"Yeah, Fishlegs?"

"Ummm, so we are technically foot soldiers, right?"

"Yeah…?"

"Ok, I was wondering why we are on horses and not marching, like the other soldiers. I mean, seems kind of unfair-"

"It's not, we – by that I mean not you guys – are the best trained, so by being on horses we can effectively lead the column and respond to any problems quickly before the enemy gets an advantage."

"Oh. Yeah."

Hiccup looked at Fishlegs, "You knew that, Fishlegs, didn't you?"

Fishlegs looked ahead, eyes getting bigger by the second, until, "Ok, fine, yes I figured that, statically speaking, that was the reason why we were up on horses in the front. I just…I just, I wanted to, you know, try to ummm, talk…"

"Talk?"

"Yeah…Like, friend to friend…"

"Oh… Uhh, well, Fishlegs, what do you want to talk about?" Thuggory was a good distance in front of them, while the rest were filing behind the column.

"Well, ok…Umm, what was training for you like?"

"Well, it was hard. We had the physical tests and training…"

"Yeah, I kind of remember those…"

"Target practice…"

"Yeah…"

"Parade marching…"

"What?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry I forgot. So, in the Guards we had an extra time of training devoted strictly to marching in parades and stuff like that. You know, since we are the showy and spiffy ones. After that, I went to the French Alps to begin mountaineer training but I was recalled when the Archduke was assassinated, so I only got, like, a few weeks in. I barely made it to my regiment when the fighting started. When did you guys join?"

"So, originally we were working in the armaments factory, you know the one near the Hopeless?"

"Yeah, I remember, Mildew used to work there, didn't he?"

"Yeah, not anymore because, well, you know," Fishlegs mimed an old man with a cane, and Hiccup had to chuckle a little bit, "but we all started there, except for Astrid. After the war broke out, she was trying everyone on the earth to try to get a piece of the action and get into the fighting. Eventually, around the time we all decided to enlist, she had decided to work for the Red Cross as a nurse. I just didn't expect to see you here."

"Oh, yeah? Why's that?"

"Well…"

"C'mon, Fishlegs, you can say it…"

"Well…Let's just say I couldn't have predicted it because you're…well, Hiccup. You know?"

"I kind of follow," he said sarcastically.

"Sorry, but it's just that growing up, you're strength was like, a 3, at best, while everyone else was averaging at least a 7.65, and while your intelligence was way above average, practically a 10, your physical characteristics just made you-"

"Weak?"

"Not necessarily, but it made you have the appearance of being-"

"I was weak, Fishlegs. It's ok, there's no way around it, I was weak when I was younger," Hiccup laughed as Fishlegs, for some reason, turned red and yet again tried to explain his way around it.

"No, well…I mean, you were for sure getting stronger when you left, because that was when we were all turning 18 and you, while a little older, were getting taller and filing out more-"

"Fishlegs, it's ok. You don't need to feel guilty about me leaving."

"Yeah, I keep telling myself that," he turned to look at Hiccup, "but even if we didn't bully you, Hiccup, we weren't exactly nice to you, either. I noticed a long time ago that all those mistakes you made, you were just trying to fit in, but I did nothing, most likely out of fear for compromising my own popularity…"

"Fishlegs," Hiccup made sure his tone quieted him for a little bit, "It's ok. I don't hold anything you guys did to me then against you now," That's a lie, I definitely still hold a small grudge against Snotlout "so I think it would be best if everyone just forgot about it for right now, ok?"

"Oh…umm, ok."

"Ok, now let's-"

"HICCUP!" Thug's yell caused the entire column to straighten up, and Hiccup saw his lead man riding over the crest of a sand dune, looking a little shaken.

"What is it, Thug?"

"We have to stop."

"What?"

"We have to stop, and you need to come see this, now."

"Ok, hold on…" Hiccup turned and rode back to the Lieutenant, who was riding his horse a little too uncomfortably close to Astrid, "We have to stop the column."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it!" Hiccup yelled at the man before riding off towards Thuggory. His men had already taken out their weapons, and the twins were riding to set up their machine gun on the first aid cart, probably because Thuggory ordered them. Nobrains, meanwhile, was pulling out his Winchester, which was definitely NOT standard issue.

"Nobrains, what is that?"

"Huh? Oh, French Calvary Carbine! From Winchester!"

"That's ridiculous, you just want to be in the Wild West!"

"Oh, come on, sir, when are we going to get a chance like this again?"

"Put it away!" Hiccup closed the distance to Thuggory, "What is it?"

"Come look," and they rode over the hill, and immediately Hiccup could smell what it was before he saw it.

Bodies. Not many, but they were there. Arabs and their camels and horses, too, and it looked as it was fairly recent.

"What happened here?"

"I don't know, but we have to stop and check, we don't know if they're ours or not."
"Thug, we can't really stop for much longer, we have to get back to resupply, and like it or not, our commander is going to push the column up more."

"Hiccup, we have to stop. There was a fight here, there was an ambush. What if we are walking into the same thing?"

"I don't know it looks like infighting," he pointed to the arrangement of the bodies, "they aren't the men we fought yesterday, and they look relatively lightly armed."

"Yeah, but…" Thuggory paused, unslinging his rifle and chambering a round, the empty shell clinging out, "Did that one just move?"

Everything that happened next occurred in slow motion for Hiccup.

First, the 'bodies' on the ground moved and stood up, brandishing their rifles and swords and yelling in a language Hiccup couldn't understand.

Next, the crack of a rifle whipped around them, and Hiccup heard Thuggory grunt next to him, turning just in time to see his friend get knocked off the horse. He hit the ground with a groan and a dull thud.

Then, dozens of black-clad men appeared on the dunes on the horizon, firing their rifles, then all of them charged towards Hiccup at once.

And, Hiccup he was hallucinating, but he could've sworn he saw some of the men off in the distance wearing grey, standard issue uniforms. European standard issue uniforms.

German ones.

"THUG!" Hiccup leapt off the horse, rifle in hand, and ran the few feet to his buddy, who was curling up and clutching his chest, groaning. "It's ok, buddy, I'm gonna get you out of here!" The sand was being kicked up by the bullets landing near them now, and the 'dead bodies' that were carrying swords and rifles were coming closer, some not even bothering to fire. Hiccup sling his rifle and pulled Thuggory, pulling his pistol out in the other hand and firing one round off at a man before deciding to use both hands to pull Thuggory over the dune.

As the bullets landed closer and closer, Hiccup moving nearer and nearer the edge of the dune, he gave a final tug and hauled the both of them over the edge, but he lost his footing and rolled down the dune. While not lasting more than a few seconds, it was enough to make him dizzy, but he shook it off as he grabbed his pistol. Looking toward the column, he saw confusion and worry in their ranks. He saw Astrid looking eyes with Thuggory's wound, how his friends ran to their position.

They don't know.

"AMBUSH!" he yelled. Immediately, everyone sprang into action. Speedifist and Wartihog made it up first, both grabbing Thuggery's bandolier and suspenders and hauling him through the sand, still groaning and clutching his chest. Hiccup, meanwhile, was aiming his rifle at the peak, waiting for the moment the ambushers crested the hill.

The second he saw that white turban, he pulled the trigger, and watched one fall.

Soon, other rifle shots joined in, some of them hitting, others kicking up sand, and the Arab enemies returned fire at Hiccup, but they were too pressured to slow down and steady their aim.

After Hiccup felled a third, their charge was getting too close, and he took out his bayonet and attached to his rifle, preparing to fight it out with them.

oOo

Astrid's POV

Astrid had heard the rifle shots, but she didn't think that much of it at first. There were sporadic ones from soldiers accidently firing all the time. It was only when they multiplied and increased in intensity that she started to worry more.

And when she saw two men on top of the dune, one in the sand being dragged by the other, heart stopped. She saw them tumble down to their level in the sand, and locked eyes with Hiccup, part of her screaming for joy that he wasn't hurt but the rest of her terrified for his safety. She heard him yell, but she couldn't exactly make it out, but seeing the others running towards him while he watched the hill, she stood up. The Lieutenant stood up next to her on the cart, having joined her in his pathetic attempts at either flirting or conversation, but seemed confused.

"Did he say ambu-" His sentence was cut short as a bullet from the other side managed to find it's target, and Astrid felt something warm hit her face. He fell into her, his weight knocking her off the wagon, and they both landed with a thud on the ground.

Astrid shoved him off, but upon seeing her hands, she turned the officer over and saw that he had been shot in the chest. "HEATHER!" Heather leaped off the cart, and the two went to work, Astrid trying to open the clothes while Heather tried to stop the bleeding and keep him calm. Finally, Astrid took the man's bayonet and cut his shirt open, allowing them to see the full extent of the wound.

"Ok, Astrid, I need to use the knife."

"Huh?"

"The bullet! There's no exit wound, I need to dig it out!"

"Ok, here," she flipped the knife and extended the handle towards Heather, who want to work digging out the bullet while Astrid keep the bleeding down and wiped the blood off of the area.

At this point, the entire column was engaged, with the twins firing their Vickers in long bursts on top of the hill, and Astrid looked up to see an entire group mowed down by the invisible yet very real bullets that were being let off. At the bottom, she was Hiccup using his rifle and bayonet as a spear, charging the Arabs with the three other veterans while Fishlegs and Snotlout brought the fourth one back. Astrid ran over to him, about to rip open the shirt when she heard Thuggory say, "No, don't."

"What?"

"Don't, I'm fine." He moaned still, but Astrid did notice there was no blood to be seen.

"What do you mean? You hit?"

"Yeah, but it caught this," he removed a small medal compass from the pocked right over his heart, a large indentation in it from the bullet, and immediately Astrid left him for their commander, knowing that his life was at stake and she could help since Thuggory was ok. However, when she got back, Heather had already tossed away the knife. "He dead?"

"No, thank God, but I got the bullet out and managed to find the bleeder all at once. He's in shock, but he'll live." Relief swept over Astrid like a rainfall. As a bonus, the gunfire seemed to be dying down.

"Ok, good, let's get him on the cart and-"

"Astrid, LOOK OUT!" Astrid turned just in time to see a mounted man riding at her from a few meters away, wearing a bandana and sporting a grey uniform and an odd helmet she'd never seen before. His sword was raised in an upward arc, and she stood there, paralyzed. Her legs felt like lead, and she could only watch as he got closer and closer, her hand grasping at the gun in her waistband but her grip too weak to grab it for some reason.

She froze entirely as she watched the sword began to descend right on par with her head. She closed her eyes, waiting for the end to come.

Instead, she heard a loud thud, a tumble of bodies, and the beginning of a scuffle. She opened her eyes, seeing her boyfriend fighting the man on the ground right next to her, with two horses getting up off the ground.

She ran over to help, but as soon as she got there, she saw Hiccup remove a short knife with what looked like brass knuckles on the handle from the man's stomach, before cutting off a patch on his arm sleeve. Quickly, he got up and met her, "Why didn't you pull your gun?"

"Huh?"

"Your pistol, Astrid!"

"I-I-I-I-"

"Astrid this is important! You could have died!"

"I don't know, I just froze up!"

"You can't freeze up, Astrid! That's how people die! You have to do this!"

"Hiccup, I'm sorry! I don't know what happened!"

"You need-" he started to say, but upon hearing some comment from Snotlout behind her, Hiccup seemed to have found a new target. He walked up to Snotlout, slinging his rifle and giving him a firm shove in the chest.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"Is this some kind of a joke to you?"

"No! Am I laughing?"

"You think this is funny?"

"Did I say that, sir?" she noticed the derision in that comment, and saw Hiccup's face reddening with anger.

Fed up, Hiccup grabbed Snotlout, by the back of his neck and forced him lower, walking him to the bodies that dotted the dune near them. Fishlegs and Tuffnut made a move to intervene, but two of Hiccup's veterans blocked their paths, both shaking their heads.

She saw Hiccup force Snotlout to look at the bodies, hearing something along the lines of "this could've been us" and shoving him away before walking back to the column, giving the order to mount up and move out. He didn't seem to be in a good mood, and whether it was from Thuggory getting hit, her almost dying or Snotlout's immaturity, or a combination of the three, she would have to find out later. He needed time to cool down, and she was starting to worry about him.

You should've pulled the trigger, you idiot, she thought as she chastised herself. If she had just been able to pull out her gun, maybe Hiccup wouldn't have been like this. Rationally, though, Astrid knew this was unlikely, but she chastised herself nonetheless.

The rest of the ride back to Aden was in silence. The whole time, Hiccup rode far out in front, while the others and the aid cart followed behind them. The doctor was periodically attending to their injured officer, but he seemed more concerned with what was on the horizon.

Up in the front, she saw Hiccup looking down at the piece of fabric he had taken from the grey soldier, rubbing it and showing it to his veterans, but not the others. Whenever they came by, he shoved it in his pocket.

Whatever it was, it was obviously something dangerous, which worried her greatly.

If something was coming after Hiccup and his men, going so far as to follow them into the deserts of Arabia…

Well, she didn't know if she could handle losing someone like him.