Without Saying

Chapter 23 - Close Encounters Again!!!

Hey, guys, I just wanted to let you know that I had to make an update to this Chapter. It's not to big, but it might be worth rereading before the next chapter comes out!

~ Omen Out (;

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Astrid's eye fluttered open to the rising sound of distant birds chirping, and she spotted rays of the sunrise beginning to cascade over the side of the cove walls. Suddenly remembering where she was, she quickly sat up and looked around. Hiccup was nowhere in sight. The only sign that he had been there at all was the cloak which she now used as a blanket. A slight rustle outside the alcove brought Astrid to her feet. Maybe Hiccup was just outside. With a slight shiver, the viking girl dawned the cloak in her arms before heading out to the cove. But to Astrid's confusion, Hiccup was still nowhere in sight. Did he seriously just abandon her last night? The possibility was growing stronger by the second. But she decided to wait for a little while. Maybe he just had to step out for a second...

By the time the sun had surpassed the horizon, Astrid had decided that Hiccup wasn't coming back.

"What kind of a low life, loki-worshipping, son of a yank-donkey leaves someone sleeping alone in the woods like that!!!!!?"

She furiously seethed while stomping back to the village. It made no sense. Hiccup had never in his life done something this rude. Upon reaching the village, Astrid immediately made tracks for the Haddock house. At first she was just angry and wanted to smack his head with a hammer, but the more she thought about it the more she worried. He had been attacked last night, that was why they went to the cove to begin with. What if the man had come back? That thought had her jogging up the path to the Haddock house, and she knocked on the door before she even knew what she was going to say. But there was no answer. She knocked a second time, no answer. Astrid's stomach dropped. If Hiccup wasn't here, then was it possible that she was right, and Hiccup was been attacked again! Wanting to make sure, the shield maiden opted to head inside to check.

The door creaked, as sunlight slowly began to fill the room, and Astrid timidly stepped inside.

"You move, you die!! Who sent you?!"

Astrid froze mid-step. That voice, she knew that voice... Suddenly she became all too aware of the cold steel tip hovering mere inches from her neck.

"Hi-hiccup? I-it's me, Astrid."

The icy cold feeling along her neck lifted and she slowly turned around to find Hiccup staring at her in horror. It was then that Astrid noticed the state of the room around her. Everything was in pieces. The table, chairs, fire pit, everything and in the middle of it all was an unconscious person that Astrid had never seem before. Without much thought, she stepped forward to get a better look at everything, but stopped when she heard the crinkle of paper below her foot. Picking it up she slowly turned it over, with slightly trembling hands, and looked down to see a 'Wanted' poster with a very familiar face on it.

"Hiccup, what's going on?!!"

She breathed. There was no hiding it now. It was obvious. There were people after Hiccup's head!! The questions was, why? Astrid felt her stomach drop out beneath her. Her eyes moved between the unconscious man on the floor, the broken furniture scattered around the room, and the wanted poster that was now trembling slightly in her hands. Nothing she was seeing made any sense! The Hiccup she knew built things. He fixed things. He stayed away from fights whenever possible and somehow still got dragged into trouble anyway. He didn't destroy entire rooms! He did not hold knives to people's throats!! And he certainly did NOT have people hunting him!!!

Slowly, she lifted her eyes back toward him. Hiccup was still standing where she had turned to find him, though now that her shock had settled enough for her to really look at him, she noticed a few things. His shoulders looked tense, his breathing ragged and unsteady, and his hands were shaking - only slightly - but enough. Astrid swallowed.