Behind the Mask

The Dragon's Eyes

Last time we left Hiccup in a state of..well, death; but hey I'm trying to look on the bright side here. Toothless has to get help and he is forced to seek out the only one he will trust for it. Will he be able to save Hiccup? And more importantly....can Hiccup be saved?

Astrid's POV:

I am cold and wet.............and very disgruntled with nature. Never mind, scratch that. I am disgruntled with life in general. Life had a way of throwing anything and everything my way to test my limit and try my patience. Lately, that's all I've been doing............ever. Dodging reality. The worst part about it was that it seemed to be only happening to me. Today alone, I kicked the morning off with a twins incident, I almost died but was saved by a stranger. The same stranger finds me at my spot, wrestles me down right after I had him cornered without so much as an effort, introduces me to a dragon which was a Night Fury no less, then flies off with not so much as a farewell at the mention of the name Hiccup; and now, I am wet, shivering and lost. What a wonderful way to spend a birthday. What could've gone wrong had already gone wrong.........it couldn't get much worse than this.

Lightning flashed bright and struck a nearby tree. It snapped and crackled as the trunk fell to the wet ground, whatever attempt to spark, muffled by the downpour.

I sigh very loudly. "Just had to prove me wrong, didn't you." I mutter to myself as I trudge along in my own world, grumbling at fate's pathway for me. It seemed all negative, and it all started with that day Hiccup walked into that arena. I started to feel for him that day..................it was a horrible decision really. Now I only feel the guilt for something I did not do, for something I could not control. I felt as if it was I that killed him outright. I forced him into the ring. When I found him the day before, I knew he was running away; but I gave no thought to what would happen if he stayed. Now.............it haunts me.

I looked around for any sign of the way home, but it is no use. I see nothing to tell me where I am. It is so dark and stormy the rain blurs any image and the clouded sky dampened any light that asked passage. I could see nothing but what was directly in front of me, and that was not much. I finally gave up and slumped down to the ground under a large pine, hoping that it would shelter from the worst of the storm but knowing it was a fairly false-hope. My teeth chattered and I shivered violently with the cold underneath my feeble tree. If I lived through this stupid storm, which was more than likely but also debatable, I was going to have the worst fever ever. Maybe even get pneumonia. Neither was attractive but I could not avoid that thought for I knew what happened when you stayed out in a storm all night, and in this cold night the chances were doubled that I would come down with something. I huddled into as small of a ball that I could manage, trying to contain my heat and give less of me for the cold drops to touch. I was miserable, plain and truly miserable. I knew that as I buried my head into my knees for the second time today. Why was my life so hard? How come I got all of the bad luck any other person could share. I was a curse magnet, and let me tell you it was working really well. I felt myself dozing off in the night, the raindrops creating a rhythmic beat that lulled me to slumber. The thunder roused me the first few times, but I found no resistance for the natural instinct to rest when I am tired and it quickly takes me over. I fall asleep before I could do anything else. Everyone was probably worried about me, but I didn't care right now.............I can only think about the events of the day and what they meant for tomorrow.

*Half an Hour Later*

I woke up with the sense that something was not normal, something was watching me, something.............nerve racking. I scanned around me. It was still raining with all its might so I still could not see a thing.........but I couldn't shake the feeling. Something was wrong, and I couldn't tell what it was; but then it hit me..........literally. A large raindrop landed right on the tip of my nose, and I realized what was wrong.