The Great Beyond

Chapter 29: Follow the Leader (Hiccup)

              It wasn't the sunlight that woke me, or the squawking of Toothless and Shriek bounding around the island; the breeze and the sweet smells of the flowers that drifted along it weren't enough to motivate me to open my eyes and start my day. No, for the first time in a long while, I wasn't forced up before I wanted to be by someone running into the hut with a complaint or warning about something that had been damaged or caught on fire.

Instead, the only thing that stirred me from the comforting lull of sleep was the fact my body had enough rest, and was actually ready to face the day.

Normally, I wasn't a fan of sleeping on the ground, given how uncomfortable it was, but this time around, it was quite possibly one of the best things that could have happened. I'd actually managed to sleep through the night, not riddled with images of worst-case scenarios of attacks, but rather more peaceful images of a future I hoped would be.

Initially, this had started out as Reign and I volunteering to take a quadrant of the outer edges of our map, searching for any new bases or fleets of Dragon Hunter ships. Surprisingly, that had ended up going relatively quickly, but we'd told the others we would be gone for a couple of days, so we decided to just find the nearest safe island and camp out there for the remainder of our trip. The thought of not working on reinforcements for the Edge definitely bit at the back of my brain, but somehow, Reign always managed to know when it bothered me and found some way to distract me. It wasn't exactly what I'd hoped to do, but it was no less welcome.

We had yet to sit down and talk about what exactly was going on between the two of us. It was definitely more emotionally intimate than friendship, but neither of us really dared to even platonically get too close to each other. It felt like both of us were trying to understand how the other felt, and didn't want to jump into anything too soon, which was understandable. But, the longer we went on not addressing things, the more I realized just how much I missed her, how much I loved her... that I never wanted something like this to happen again—I didn't want to think about having to be without her by my side.

Sometimes, I wondered if it was better to just get it over with.

When I shifted to stand, Reign's eyes opened slowly, eventually drifting all the way up to meet mine. I could feel my heart hammer in my chest as the tiniest smile stretched on her lips, easing a sigh of content from her before she stretched and sat up.

"Good morning." Her voice was muffled by a yawn, making it so I barely heard the greeting.

"'Morning, Reign," I greeted back.

"Listen, I know we have to go back to the Edge eventually, but... can't we just stay out here another day?" Sighing, I shook my head. "It's so quiet."

"We've got to get back and work on reinforcements," I reminded her. "We might not have found any Hunters out this way, but that doesn't mean they aren't planning their attack on the Edge."

Reign's eyes rolled back and she slammed the back of her head against the sleeping mat, emphasizing her annoyance.

"Hiccup, they don't even know where the Edge is," she insisted. "The only way they would know is Dagur, and I'm genuinely convinced he isn't smart enough to remember the coordinates. Otherwise, they would've found us a long time ago."

"We should still make sure we're prepared." I tried my best to move on from what she'd just mentioned. It really wasn't a good idea to mention what happened with her brother; I genuinely feared what her reaction would be. "Viggo's incredibly smart."