Honeymoon Viking-style

4.

Hiccup and Astrid were in the camp. It was night and the sky was reflecting infinity of stars. The dawn sunlight was starting to erase them softly, though. They had been taking turns on watchings all night, covered together with blankets, but at that moment they both were awake due to the intense cold they were feeling. And, most of all, they were starving. They hadn't eaten all night because they were afraid of being found if they lit on the fire, and they hadn't anything that didn't require any cooking.

Hiccup's guts roared and Astrid laughed, but Hiccup read sadness in her face.

"C'mon, don't worry. We will find her and you will fix the things up."

They had heard nothing more from Fury. When they returned to the camp, she wasn't there, and there wasn't any sign that indicated that she had been there.

A movement in their back startled them and they saw the unknown girl who fought them a few hours ago, standing up grabbing weakly to the tent.

"You saved me..."

"Your steps sound", Astrid said, shrugging and pulling on the covers.

"Thank you".

She seemed to understand what the Viking was meaning to.

The girl stepped to them, weakly, and Hiccup went to help her before she fell.

"You should go back inside and rest. You had a high fever."

She shook her head, and Hiccup walked her to sit next to Astrid. Then, she extended her arms and some tiny bright lights appeared, floating. A moment after, they flew away in all directions. The effort made her wobble a little, even while sitting.

"What was that?", Hiccup asked while Astrid was grabbing her, suspicious.

"Detectors. With them, we will know if somebody is coming. If you don't light the fire you will freeze to death."

The Vikings look to each other, deciding what to do. Finally, the cold was stronger than distrust and Hiccup shrugged and started to make the fire. Its comforting warmth attracted Hiccup and Astrid, who got close to it in relief.

"You coming?", Astrid asked, rubbing her hands in front of the fire.

"No, I am good here. If you haven't noticed it, I have ice magic, so the cold is not a problem for me."

Hiccup wasn't even listening, since he was pulling out the few cobs remaining and preparing them to cook them.

"I am Elsa, by the way."

"I'm Astrid, and he's Hiccup."

"May I ask you what are you doing in Arendelle?"

"We're here to find Toothless", Hiccup said while cooking. "He's a black dragon, a little stubborn, and our friend. He has disappeared and seems like he could be around."

"A dragon?", said between incredulous and alarmed.

"Don't worry, Toothless isn't dangerous", Astrid reassured her, smiling.

"D'you have any idea about where could he be?", Hiccup asked with interest. "He cannot fly by himself due to... well, to an accident that happened a few years ago, so someone must have taken him away."

Elsa made a worried face.

"If someone has taken him, I have an idea about who the culprit is."

Hiccup stopped and stared at her, questioningly.

"It was... my sister, probably."

Elsa accompanied the statement with a slightly guilty smile.

"Your sister?", Hiccup said stunned. "Your sister... So you have a sister. Has she powers as well, I don't know, of fire or something? And why the hell would your sister want a dragon for?"

Astrid poked him in the side, cutting his breath.

"How is she supposed to answer if you don't close your mouth?"

Elsa sadly smiled.

"All started three months ago, but I should go back a little bit more in time to make you understand better what is happening here. At least in part, because I don't even understand it myself.

"Anna and I are the royal family of Arendelle. I reigned first but, due to my powers, I ended taking care of the enchanted forest along with the Northuldra people. Yes, I know, it sounds like a tale, " said, looking at the faces the Vikings were making, "but I assure you it is real.

"Anna became the queen, then. She married Kristoff and, to be honest, they are much better kings than I was. They are very close and people love them. I have more trouble getting close to people.

"At the beginning, our relation didn't change: we wrote letters to each other, we met regularly... but the forest is really big and, sometimes, I had to leave for a long time to far places to find out why the river was flowing low or to calm down the earth giants."

"Giants?" the Vikings said at the same time.

"Well... you have dragons, we have giants" she answered with fun. "The thing is that, without noticing it, we distance ourselves. Every time we had more obligations and less time to see each other.

"This year winter is being especially harsh in the north. The harvest wasn't very well and we had to work hard to get enough food to get through the winter. In all this time I received only a few letters from Anna and I thought it was because things on Arendelle were being hard as well: robbery reports, food shortages... I assumed she was busy taking care of all this but, even so, I kept writing when I had the chance.

"After a month without any response I worried about it and I went to visit her. And I found her... different. I don't know how to explain it. She was very cold and distant. We barely exchanged a few words before she dismissed me, cutting me off.

"I got back to the forest, worried, and there I received a visit from my friend, Olaf, who agreed Anna was acting weird. A week later, I went back to Arendelle to talk with her, but that time I couldn't even see her. Of course, I kept trying, but it was worthless.

"In my latest tries I noticed that there was more silence than usual, but I was so worried about Anna that I didn't give it too much importance.

"The last time, two weeks ago, I arrived determined to see her at all cost. First, the servants asked me to leave, but I refused. Then, the royal guard arrived, and I also ignored them. Finally, Kristoff appeared riding Sven."

"Big blond guy on a reindeer's back?" Hiccup said.

"I see you have met them."

Elsa smiled sadly.

"In that case, there is no need to explain what happened next...

"I barely managed to get out of there and, using my ice powers, I froze the whole fjord to stick their ships and made the winter worse to block the roads. I know they are planning something, but I don't know what it is, so I decided to limit their movements as much as possible to prevent them from doing something foolish.

"Since then, the kingdom troops have been chasing me, and I even had to fight to the death with some of them. Although this is not true at all, actually. The only one who can die seems to be me, you know."

Hiccup and Astrid looked at her without understanding.

"Oh! I beg your pardon. I thought that, since you already fought with them, you had noticed. Apparently, whatever damage you do to them, they are able to fully regenerate themselves. In one of our engagements, I accidentally cut off Lieutenant Mathias' arm, who laid to the ground bleeding to death. However, the next time they found me, there he was, completely recovered. And the same with many other soldiers."

A chill ran down Hiccup's spine. How to defeat an enemy that couldn't even be killed?

"I have been fleeing since then, looking for a way to reach Anna to talk to her, but spending all this time alone and being chased by a tireless enemy has taken its toll on me. Especially the lack of sleep due to the watchings. I mean, if the detectors were activated while I was sleeping, I could not notice it and, then, my life will be in danger. But, after our meeting, maybe the thing could change..."

Hiccup and Astrid smiled.

"Count on us."