Haley and the Dragon Riders

Heartbreaker

We walked pretty far into the forest and away from the base. She finally stopped walking when I spoke to confront her.

"Astrid, you're not here to show me the base, are you? You wanna know what Hiccup and I were talking about in private." I crossed my arms and looked at her.

"And you said I caught on quickly. You're right, I do wanna know what you and Hiccup talked about. Usually I wouldn't care since he'd tell me if it was important enough, but I have a pretty good idea already." I didn't see her dragon anywhere as we walked so I'm pretty sure it was just me and her out here. Would she really fight me on her own when she knows the types of weapons I have?

"Enlighten me." I smirked. If she had the nerve to fight me here when she knew she couldn't win I couldn't help but smile.

"I was with Hiccup when Viggo said those exact same phrases as you've used the last two days. We all were. The others might not've caught on yet, but they will. Well, Fishlegs might. Now, I don't know what you told Hiccup so he'd let you stay, and frankly I don't care. I trust Hiccup and his decisions so if he says you're good to stay I won't stop him."

"Then why drag me all the way out here? Surely it wasn't just to say that."

"You're right, there's one more thing. If you lie to us or use us and betray Hiccup's trust in you, I'll crush you."

"Astrid, I have enough enemies already. There would be no point in betraying you guys. Besides, you're already the nicest people I've met and my first shot at real friendships, so why would I hurt you?" I gave her a genuine smile. As genuine as it could be when it was forced at least.

"Alright, but I'll be keeping my eye on you. Now c'mon, let's head back before the others get suspicious." She smiled back and started walking.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." With her back turned to me I smirked and followed her.

She showed me around their base. I got to see everything from the calmest spa area to the coolest boar pit. They had a hangar, houses for everybody, watch towers, walls, ziplines and everything else you could imagine a teenage base to have. It was honestly amazing.

Once my extended tour ended, we met up with Snotlout and the twins. Snotlout was still dying to spend quality time with me and the twins were just annoying him.

"Just admit it, you like her." Ruffnut said.

"So what if I do?" He replied.

"She'll never go out with someone like you. She's too cool for that." Tuffnut added.

"Oh yeah!? Like you're one to talk. The only woman in your life is Ruffnut and the damn chicken!" Snotlout retorted.

"Touche." The twins said in unison. As Astrid and I walked over, they turned their attention to us and Snotlout's anger immediately changed into flirting.

"Oh, hey. Didn't even see you there. I was just telling these guys about how many dragons I've saved this week." Snotlout half-assed his casual tone but it was a fair try.

"Uh.. no you didn't." Ruffnut pointed out. Snotlout immediately looked at her.

"Yes. I did!" He quietly said through gritted teeth. His attempt at casual flirting and her calling him out on his bullshit is enough to make me chuckle. Upon hearing the faint sound from my lips, Snotlout immediately turned around and started almost glowing.

"Alright. I'm sure the dragon's are happy you're helping them out. Now, I believe I promised a certain someone a tour with me alone?" He wasn't my type at all and I wasn't looking for a guy anyway, but it's always fun to get the hopes up on guys like him.

"Yes! That's me. Told you guys she was into me." I couldn't tell if he was trying to be quiet about that last part or not but in any case he really needed to work on his whispering.

We walked the same route through the forest as Astrid and I had. Only we went further. We walked along the beach for a while before settling down to rest on some rocks. From our place up high we had the perfect view of the ocean. It was so peaceful and blue. Occasionally we'd see a Scauldron poke it's head up way out in the distance. If he actually was a love interest, this would've made for the most romantic place on the island.

"So, did you have anything in particular you wanted to talk about?" I asked and gave him a calm smile.

"Uh.. talk about..? Oh, right! Yeah.. that.. uh…" he was fumbling over his words. I had never seen him like this before. From what I've seen so far he always has some kind of comeback or something to say.

"What's wrong? Dragon got your tongue?" I teased and chuckled to myself. He didn't say anything. He just stared at his hands.
"Wow, I must've said something crazy for you to become speechless. I'm not that stunning."

Not in the romantic sense anyway. As I said those words, however, he started blushing and looked up at me with intense eyes. I couldn't pinpoint the emotion behind the intensity, but it wasn't hostile, that much I knew.

"Don't say that. You're the most beautiful, stunning and clever person I've ever met. We've only known each other for a few days but… man, this is harder than I thought… Haley! You're incredible! And I really like you! So don't say silly things like that, okay?" He seemed so nervous. It was sweet of him to care so much, but I also knew I had taken it too far. I got on my feet and looked down at him. I wanted to reject him as gently as possible.

"Snotlout, you're a nice guy, really, but you're just not my type. I'm into smart vikings and you're more… the strong type. But don't worry, there's a girl for you somewhere out there, it's just not me." He looked confused, but he knew what I was saying. He wasn't even arguing with me.
"I'm sorry, Snotlout. I just don't feel the same way."

"Whatever, you'll come around, they always do." He responded. He sounded like he was trying not to care, but his hurt expression betrayed him. I didn't want to make things worse for him, so I walked away without another word.

Back at the Edge I explained to Hiccup that it would be best for me to take a few days away from the others. He was confused and tried to stop me, but in the end, he let me leave with River.

We went back to our old Hut. I saw a couple of vikings below me as I flew over the island, but this was Viggo's Island so it made sense for there to be a few guards. Once we landed at the hut, I had River stand guard as I went out hunting for some boar. I wasn't really hungry, but perhaps River was, and besides, I needed to get my mind off things for a while.

I had been hunting boars for a few hours but still not caught any. I guess I'm not as skilled a hunter when my mind isn't really there. Back at the hut I was met with a grim surprise.

The door was wide open, River was nowhere to be seen and the entire place had been pillaged. My weapons, ammunition and food were all gone. I immediately took to the skies, looking for River. Weapons, ammo and food could all be replaced, but she was priceless.

"River! Riiiiveeer! Where are you!!" I called out but there was no response.

I flew down and landed on the ground in the middle of the forest, looking for any kind of clue. Eventually I found a couple of scales that resembled hers. I couldn't be sure, but it was all I had to go by.

I followed the faint trail of footprints, scales and broken branches for as long as I could. After having followed them for about 20 minutes, the trail went cold. I looked all around the area but couldn't find any more clues.

While checking the area for the faintest clue as to her whereabouts, I heard a faint dragon cry in the distance. I wasn't sure but I ran towards the sound to see if it was her. Before I could make it to the dragon in need, a large Viking grabbed me from behind. He held a hand over my mouth as he dragged me backwards. Once we got in between some trees, he threw me on the ground and before I had time to look around, I got kicked in the face.

My eyelids felt heavy and my mind was getting foggy. I tried seeing who my attacker was or listening for any clue as to their voice but the only thing I could hear was the sound of my heartbeat and an increasing ringing in my ears as I closed my eyes and blacked out.