The Broken Link

Seven

Did that really just happen? Did Astrid/not Astrid turn into some donkey-lady?

I stay sitting on the ground, shaking and staring at the spot where I had stabbed the donkey-lady.

Someone lays a hand on my shoulder, and I shriek in surprise. But it's only Hiccup. He must've been the one who called my name earlier. Beside him, Astrid leans on him, with a cane.

Is that even Astrid?

"Where'd that thing go?" Astrid demands. I stare at her, silent. She groans at my unmoving lips. "That donkey thing! You left with it!"

I conclude that this is Astrid. "I don't know. I thought it was yuh."

"I hate magic." Astrid grumbles.

"But yuh were here?" I frown in confusion.

"That thing grabbed me while we were headed back to get you clothes." Astrid says.

"But I would've seen it." I argue. Astrid frowns too.

"It was using those Wisps things to hide itself when it stole me. It threw me far into the forest, and I got so confused." Astrid groans in distress. "Then it pretended to be me."

"Why though?" I ask.

"We don't know." Hiccup admits, looking frustrated. "I was headed to the ship with Milo and Elsa when I heard you scream. I found Astrid first."

"Where's Milo and Elsa?" I demand. "There's some... uh, whatever that thing was, it might still be around!"

"I told them to go back to the ship, and fly overhead to look for us." Hiccup explains. Just after he finishes explaining, Milo's ship hovers above us. A ladder droops down.

I snatch my bow from the ground, and sling it on my shoulder. Grabbing the sides of the ladder, I begin to climb up to the ship suspended in the air. Under me, Hiccup helps Astrid climb the ladder. Soon, all three of us are on the ship. We all sit on the deck of the ship, and we go higher in the sky, way above the clouds. Toothless flies around us, and Elsa rushes to us.

"Are you alright?" Elsa asks, knitting her eyebrows when she sees Astrid massaging her ankle. I'm alright myself, which hardly seems fair to anyone. Asides from a few scratches on my face and arms, I am nearly untouched.

"Fine now." I say, rubbing my arms.

"Milo's flying the ship." Elsa says. "What happened?"

So we tell her what happened on the ground. When we finish, Hiccup asks Elsa if she's ever heard of the thing that attacked me. We don't really have a name for it, other than donkey-lady. Elsa shakes her head, looking confused and concerned.

"I want to know why that thing singled out Merida to attack." Elsa ponders.

"I don't know. Maybe I've met it before I lost mah memory." I reply, frustrated. "Why didn't it just kill Astrid too?" I question. "That thing was clearly capable of killing. It nearly killed meh."

"Maybe I was just an obstacle. Maybe it only wanted to kill you." Astrid says. She reaches for my hand, and I take hers.

"Well, I'm glad yer not dead." I say weakly, and Elsa smirks a little.

"I thought you two hated each other." Elsa remarks, raising an eyebrow. "Anyways, what now?"

I let go of Astrids hand, and pull my hair in frustration. "If that thing wanted to kill meh, it might come back."

"It wasn't human, so it was magical. Do you think it could have something to do with the balance of magic?" Elsa asks out loud.

I nod slowly, putting it together in my mind. "I was on a mission tah repair the balance, righ'? Maybe it wanted to stop meh."