A/N:

I absolutely hate myself for taking so long to update this story. But but! There's a positive and a negative to everything, and the positive for this chapter is that I've been reading a huge amount of books over the break, and I have come up with some new techniques to tell a story.

Enjoy! (Still doesn't make up for the late chapter, sorry.)

Chapter 23: The Passing of a New Tide

Flashback into the bright light, the starry eyed girl lay lifeless in bed. Luckily for her, her injuries had not been magnified, as she was well taken care of.

Her breathing had steadied from a rough husk, and slowly transformed into a soft, controlled huff. That relieved Sherry. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, caressing Hazel's hair, wanting her to wake up from her seemingly eternal slumber.

Her week had gone a little bit off the dangerous side, always putting her heart into a trance. First, the arrival of Astrid and the crew, which was rather unpleasant for the townsfolk of Thoughtful, and next, was the beating of Hazel, their beloved dragon trainer.

But the village put up with it, though. They weren't ready to risk anything that would destroy their beloved reputation. No, he wasn't ready for another war.

"Aldrich, you coward." Sherry murmured.

She couldn't blame him, though. The thunderous name of Berk was more than enough to send even the strongest of warriors fleeing to their homes. Hell, she could safely assume that anyone who had reached the age of ten knew the tales of the island of Berk, and its mighty chief Stoic.

As Sherry recounted the tales passed on to her by her mother, one specific tale came to mind.

It was once said, that when Stoic was a baby, he killed, and ripped off the head of a terror, leaving all the villagers in awe. When asked if I believed the certain tale, do you know what would always be my answer?

"Yes."

The tale of Stoic the Vast was—well—vast. It was also once said, that Stoic's son had immeasurable strength, far beyond those capable of any man. He was said to have lifted boulders, and moved mountains, all with his bare hands. Did I believe that?

"I do."

Hiccup's strength didn't come in his fists, and neither did it come in biceps, or muscles, or legs. None of those could equal the power that Hiccup possessed.

But let's be honest here, Hiccup is a scrawny, little man, without any actual training. He doesn't know how to wield an axe, nor does he know how to throw one. You could've said that he is the most undertrained, useless, complaining, sarcastic little runt on the island.

Still, Hiccup was Hiccup. And that scrawny, little man rides a Night Fury. He rides as swift as the wind and his Night Fury—Toothless—never misses a shot. He is a force to be reckoned with.

Suddenly, Sherry felt a shift of weight in the tangled blankets. "Where, where?" Hazel spat out. Sherry could tell that she was in pain.

"Shhh…" She put her hand over her lips, and laid her down to rest. "Hazel, don't move. I don't want you wasting your energy."

Hazel was just about to open her mouth to speak when Sherry stopped her once more. "No talking." She said. "Rest."

Hazel surrendered to her pleas, and hid herself under the sheets. Shuffling the blanket, she spoke. "How long was I out?" She said, her voice was muzzled under the covers of the blanket, like she had been talking underwater.

"About 3 days." Sherry admitted, and got up from the bed to fetch some water. "You know, you shouldn't have challenged Astrid. You already knew you were going to be at a disadvantage."

"I don't care." Hazel said, pulling up the sheet, and taking a sip from the mug that was newly parked beside her. "Anyone who dares to insult Hiccup—whether he is present or not—shall feel my wrath."

"I think you felt her wrath, Hazel." Sherry said, trying to keep a straight face.

"Oh, shut up." Hazel rasped. "At least I tried to defend him, unlike some people who just wait on the sidelines." Momentarily after she said this, she starting to cough, and needed to lie down in bed.

"You should really stop talking, or that throat of yours is going to be the one on the sidelines." Sherry said. "Seriously, do you really like him that much?"

Hazel pursed her lips. "I haven't really thought about that yet." She said. "I don't know. Do you think I like him?"

"I don't think like covers it." Sherry stated. "It's more like love to me."

Hazel could feel the blood rising to her cheeks. "W-what?"

"Think about it." Sherry pointed one straight finger at Hazel. "First of all, you start acting differently by the time he leaves. Second, you defend him like he's your god or something like that. Lastly, I don't understand how you cannot like him."

"Uhhh," Hazel was at a loss for words, literally. "I don't know what to say."

"Come on, girl." Sherry teased. "Don't deny it."

"I AM not in love with that boy." Hazel stammered, trying to find her voice in this clamor. She didn't know why she was stuttering, nor did she know why he heart was doing jumping jacks. "Seriously."

"If your heart skipped a beat, then you're in love."

Okay, maybe she was in love, but so what, right? "Uhm, sorry, it didn't." She said, trying to keep a stoic face. "Hey, uh, I need some air. Do you mind if I go out for a bit?"

Sherry crossed her arms. "Sure, if you can stand."

Hazel slowly wobbled her way of the stable—now shaky—bed. She stumbled to her toes, and in a fleeting attempt, tried to get back up again.

"I told you." Sherry said, picking Hazel up, and helping her back into the bed. "You're not fit to walk, let alone stand."

"Right…"

So many things were going on in Hazel's head that she didn't have time to think about all of them. She wanted to leave, and not just for some temporary vacation. She wanted to journey into the wild, just as Hiccup did.

"Hey, uh, Sherry?" Hazel stammered. God, she was stuttering a lot these days.

"Yup?"

"I think I want to leave Thoughtful."

The moment she said those seven words, a pain in her heart emerged. The people here had done so much for her and for her to want to leave will have killed them inside.

Sherry didn't seemed surprised, which to Hazel's attention, shocked her. "When do you plan to go?" Sherry inquired; her voice was calm and controlled.

"As soon as I'm well." Hazel said. To be honest, she never planned to do anything like this. She could never have imagined herself leaving the island. She didn't even have a plan for where she would go. "Why aren't you surprised?"

"You're pretty transparent, you know Haze." Sherry confessed. "I mean, it was only a matter of time before you would want to follow in Hiccup's footsteps. You practically worship the guy."

"I do—" She had thought about denying it, but then again… "Whatever. Are you going to help me?"

"Don't you want to think about this first?" Sherry said. "It's a pretty dangerous thing to do, and you could get hurt, even fatally."

"I know." Hazel said, speaking more confidently this time. She didn't know where she got that voice. "I'm willing to take those risks." She could have imagined this was what Hiccup felt like just before he started planning his great escape.

"Okay." Sherry sighed heavily. "I guess there's no stopping you."

Actually there was. Hazel wasn't even sure she wanted to leave the island. Still, she had decided, and she knew that there was only one was for her to be happy. "So you're going to help me?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Sherry said. "I don't know whether or not your parents, or Aldrich would act upon this but…"

"No." Hazel cut her off. "We can't tell them, and knowing my mum, she would never allow me." She slumped into the far corners of her bed.

"Alright." Sherry said, and started patting off the little crumbs that lay on the table. "Does a week from now sound good?"

Hazel thought about it for a second. "Give me 3 days." She said, as if she knew her body all too well. "I'll be ready by then."

"Okay." Sherry said. "I'll leave you to rest then?"

"Yeah," Hazel said. Sherry opened the door, which filled the room with bright light. As she was about to exit the house, Hazel called out to her. "Check on Evergreen, will ya?"

"No problem, Haze!" She flashed Hazel a warm smile, and closed to door, leaving Hazel alone in the room.

"Wait for me, Hiccup."

The cold ocean air blasted the faces of the unfazed crew of young Vikings. They were ready to face anything, whether it is sea dragons, or another one of Hiccup's brainwashed followers.

Knowing that he was out there, converting people into his dragon cult was more than enough information for the teens to want to find him. But after some restless weeks, they had grown weary of their search, and were almost close to giving up.

"Keep the sails up!" Astrid barked. What great motivation the Vikings had at the start had trickled down into a small little bottle, begging to come home. Now, it seemed that Astrid had only wanted personal gain.

"I think I see an island!" She would have said that she needed to bring the traitor back to Berk, but now it seemed more of an "I need to redeem my pride" sort of thing.

The blonde girl, sparkling and shining in the glorious light, turned to Fishlegs. "Is that island part of the Barbaric Archipelago?" Her patience with the crew was withering, and sometimes, she failed to keep it together.

Fishlegs scanned the map for traces on an island, only to be disappointed. "No," He curled the map into a scroll. "It's not on the map."

Snotlout's eyes beamed at the statement. "Does that mean I can name an island after me?" He came rushing towards Fishlegs, and immediately grabbed hold of the map.

"Move it, loser." Ruffnut barged into Snotlout and opened the map, wide enough for everyone to see. "I hereby name the is—"

She was cut off when Tuffnut snatched the map away, making a face as he did so. "Losers don't get to name islands, sissy." And so, the rumble for the map ensued.

"Guys," Fishlegs murmured. The tone of his voice hinted fear. "Guys…" He said, a bit louder, but they still wouldn't stop, and his eardrums started to recognize the sound of tearing within the edges of the map. "GUYS!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, causing everyone to freeze. "I need the map back, please."

Snotlout, who had gained possession of the map just a few seconds ago, gave it up to Fishlegs. "Thank you." He said, brushing the map and returning it to its original state, while Astrid cleared her throat.

"We're not even sure yet if the island is inhabited or not, so don't get your hopes up." She said, and walked towards the mast. "Though, it would be better to keep your guard up. We don't know whether the townsfolk are hostile."

"Right." Snotlout said. "And of course, I'd always be there to defend you, As—" His face collided with a fist, sending him into the wall.

"Shut up." She said sternly. "We can't joke around now, so everyone, get back to your positions." As she wished, everyone returned to their respective spots on the boat.

"I wasn't joking." Snotlout murmured, as he climbed on top of a crate to get to his spot.

Astrid turned her sights on to the island, which was a tiny spec in the horizon. She fixed her gaze upon it, and wondered if Hiccup was there. "Hmph."

Now that they had another chance at finding Hiccup, she actually didn't know what she would say to him once they finally met. A few weeks ago, she would have started it out with aggression, hurting him in every bone possible.

She needed to let go of the anger she had kept inside her for so long. But the past week had been a life changer for her. Now, she had begun to question the Viking code, and the dragons didn't seem too bad anymore.

Her encounter with Hazel must have sparked something. She didn't know it, but for some odd reason, Hiccup was essential in her life. Seeing Hazel and the joy that Hiccup had brought to the island made her question if dragons were really such a bad idea.

But no, she couldn't afford to think like that. They were Vikings—strong, brutal, and fierce people—moreover, she belonged to the village of Berk, one of the most well renowned villages in the seven seas. But were her pride—and her status on Berk—really worth more than what Hiccup could offer?

"No, they're not." Astrid said quietly, too low for anyone to hear. "They're not."

Astrid then closed her eyes, and thought about her previous life—the life she once had.

She was a warrior, born and bred to perfection. She was the rising star of Berk, and nobody would be able to topple her title as that. Well, at least that was what she thought.

Hiccup was the only person that could make her feel angry, and even less superior. He was the only person that could take away that title, and that made her scared. She didn't want to lose it, especially to Hiccup the Useless.

So she ran, and she trained, and worked hard to be the best. Hiccup just cheated, and to put worse thing with worse, he befriended the greatest enemy of Berk.

But now that she had thought of it, Hiccup had nothing to lose. "That's probably why he ran off so easily." She was talking to herself now. "That's why he doesn't care."

She had only realized it now. Hiccup didn't have many friends back at Berk—actually, let's correct that. Hiccup had no friends in Berk, not until he became the star of the kill ring. His instant success in the ring led Astrid to become suspicious, and observant of where Hiccup would go.

So then, she found out about Hiccup's dirty little secret, and of course, she knew what she did. But she wondered… what if she had given him a chance? What if she hadn't had acted the way she did? Would Berk be like Thoughtful?

She thought that Berk was a less happy place than those of the Thots, and although she always wanted the best for the Vikings of Berk, she didn't want to give her pride up for it.

It was what made her a Viking, and she couldn't lose that.

"I'll see you soon, Hiccup." She had her eyes set to the horizon again, gazing at its supreme and endless beauty. "I hope you're ready for what comes next."

The color of blood illuminated the whole room, sending electric sparks throughout Hiccup's muscles. Every bone in his body burned, and as he looked onto the people around him, but he couldn't say the same went for them. It was as if they were frozen in time.

The room seemed to be spinning, losing its binds on the world as each second passed. Hiccup could hear the screams of people, wailing, wanting to get out of the stone. But their voices were suppressed, and Hiccup could care less about them when he felt his whole body was on fire.

"Toothless…" He stretched his hand out to touch the dragon's snout, but as he did, the Night Fury started getting farther, and farther away from him. It was as if someone—or something—was pulling him into the abyss.

With all his willpower, he averted his eyes to the stone, which increased the volume of the screams. Hiccup covered his ears, desperately trying to block them out, but it was no use. It was like they phased through any sort of physical barriers.

He was just about ready to let himself go, when he heard something that plunged his brain into a state of panic. "HICCUP!" He knew that voice. It was too hard for him to let it go. "Help me, Hiccup…"

"Astrid!" He shouted, and tried to pull himself closer to the stone, which in turn, started to pluck at Hiccup's chest. "As—" He barely kept himself conscious, for the pain was too much for him to bear.

"The cold rush of bones and dread shall wash over the mystical, brown earth." An ancient voice resonated from the stone, making it glow even brighter. "While the one close to the sun shall be drowned in her pride."

Then, Hiccup blacked out.

A/N:

Ah yes, aside from the fact that I have been reading a lot of books, my beloved keyboard also got broken. Since I was too frustrated to write something, I figured I would put it off till I got a new one. (Which is the exact same one because I really love my Razer Black Widow Ultimate.)

Anyways, I'll see you all in the next chapter!

Ravenblack