Will it be forever?

Chapter 22: I'm on my way

Hiccup's POV

Astrid's words hit me, and hard at that. All those things she had said, how I hadn't been there those first weeks after the honeymoon, how I had 'forgotten' about her, how I hadn't been able to save her from all the pain she had been through ... I couldn't keep the tears in.

Tears rolled down my cheeks as I sank to the ground and picked up the shimmering ring she had thrown at me. Dear Thor, I was an idiot, a big idiot at that.

My friends came up behind me, all looking like they were uncertain of what to say, or what to do, next. I sighed as I studied the silver band in my hands. She had kept it, through all of those hardships she had been through, in the hopes that I would come rescue her.

I gritted my teeth. So stupid, I was so stupid.

Toothless came waddling up beside me, head tilted to the side as if he was asking, 'so, what do we do next?'. I furrowed my brows as I climbed atop the dragon, determined to change Astrid's mind.

I quickly dropped the ring into one of my pockets before positioning myself properly on Toothless.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Heather asked as she came running up to Toothless and I, Henry in her arms.

"I'm going to go find my wife." I narrowed my eyes and furrowed my brows as I activated Toothless' tail fin, sending us shooting towards the skies at record speed, leaving behind a fuming Heather and wide grins from my friends.

***

Hours had gone by, and we still hadn't found a clue to where Astrid might've gone.

"Astrid?" I called out for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "Astrid!"

I kept my gaze on the horizon as I desperately searched for a sign of the girl I loved.

I furrowed my brows as I spoke to Toothless, unwilling to tear my gaze from the horizon as I clung to even a minor possibility of seeing her again. "What if something happened to her?"

Toothless let out a worried whimper as he shook his head. It seemed like he was losing hope as well.

A familiar voice rang through my mind.

"One day I'll get my revenge, brother! One day I'll take away every single thing you love while you are forced to watch!"

Dagur's voice gnawed at the insides of my mind as I feared the worst. What if he had ...? No, no. I couldn't think that way, I just had to keep searching, she was bound to be somewhere out there, and preferably far away from Dagur's clutches.

Astrid's POV

It had been a long day for the two of us. The day had started rather normally, I woke up, ate breakfast, only to be interrupted by my husband's former lover who informed us all that she and Hiccup had produced a child together, which I did not take very well, and everything snowballed from there, ending with Stormfly and I out in the middle of the ocean, searching for an island my now ex-husband hadn't gotten the chance to map yet.

And for the first time that day, it seemed like the Gods smiled down at us. Not too far ahead, was a tall, rather small island, held up by a thick pillar of stone with a bunch of great pine trees growing up from the dark grass that covered the top of the oversized boulder that was the island.

From what we could tell, there didn't seem to be any civilization there, which suited us perfectly.

"Let's stop here, girl." I informed Stormfly as I pointed towards the island, which she happily flew towards, seeing as she was probably just as exhausted as I was.

We landed at the foot of a small mountain that pretty much made up the entire island, and luckily for us, there seemed to be a cave right beside our landing spot. We inched towards it, and as I figured it would be too dark to see without a torch, I shot Stormfly a short series of hand signs.

"Light up, girl" I commanded as I took a cautious step into the cave, which was lit by a comforting orange glow mere seconds later. Luckily for us, the cave didn't seem to be part of a system and it wasn't too large either, which suited us perfectly.

We eventually set up a little camp there. I took off Stormfly's saddle for the night before I placed down a blanket I always kept in my saddle bag. I laid down on the blanket, before Stormfly wrapped herself around me, keeping me warm throughout the otherwise chilly night.

The morning came sooner than expected, and when I woke up, I found Stormfly still asleep. Bored of just laying on the ground, I got up and snuck out of the cave, headed to get some fresh air into my system.

I placed my hands on my hips as I turned to the sky, which had been lit up by the sun that shone brightly down on the small island, as it warmed my face.

The sound of a sigh filled my ears.

I furrowed my brows as I turned to the cave, only to find Stormfly still asleep. I drew my brows together, it couldn't have been the wind, could it?

But as I was about to close my eyes and let the sun warm my face yet again, I felt a presence beside me, which flipped my battle instincts on, sending my hands flying to my back for my axe, which was conveniently enough, missing.

But as the quick thinker I was, as soon as I realized my axe wasn't there, I tackled whomever was beside me to the ground, before I pressed my elbow up against their throat.

"Woah, didn't mean to scare you, there." The man beneath me chuckled as he put his hands up in defense, amusement lighting up his face and shining through his near golden eyes.

I furrowed my brows as I shot him a hard look. "You don't scare me."

Again, he chuckled. "I don't think we've met! Fennir Isleson, at your service ... err, mercy?"

I stood up and dusted off my skirt, leaving Fennir to fend for himself. As the man scrambled to his feet, I couldn't help but notice how surprisingly ... handsome he looked. Combed black hair framed his chiseled face as a dimpled smile kept it kind and welcoming. He wore black armor, a dark blue tunic peeking out underneath and black, furry boots to match his armor. A long, iron sword was strapped to his back, and for some reason not used in defense against the unarmed me.

"Now to you, gorgeous mystery woman in the middle of the woods, what do they call you?" He asked as he leaned against the nearest tree.

I studied him for a moment, contemplating whether I should share my name with this stranger or not. As soon as I had deemed him to be relatively harmless, I let out a sigh.

"Astrid, they call me Astrid." I said, my voice stripped of any emotion.

He clasped his hands together as the smile on his face grew wider. "A beautiful name for a beautiful woman, I believe this will be the start of a beautiful friendship."