The Note

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Chapter 26:The Note

I walked up to every house.It seemed good as new.Houses that had disappeared completely before were now standing tall and sturdy.Doors had been mended.Roofs were repaired.Walls were all patched up completely.I wandered all round the village in awe.Finally,I found Jessica weakly hammering at a wall."Last...few,"she gasped.Her face was paler than the moon and she looked weak and exhausted.Mayhem looked like he wanted to collapse.Cassie was fast asleep on a pile of wood,hammer in hand.Frostbite lay curled up around her.I hurried over to Jessica and wrenched the hammer out of her hand."I'll do the fixing.You look terrible,Jessica!Go have something to eat,and go have a rest.Honestly,have you been working all through the night?"I fussed.I whistled to Castaway."Bring her to the Great Hall,boy,"I told him.Castaway gently took Jessica's collar in his mouth and placed her on his back,then flew off to the Great Hall.Mayhem followed,weakly flapping his wings.I shook Cassie awake."Jess...Leave me alone...I'm too tired to wake up,"she groaned,turning her back to me."It's me,Yannied.Cassie,your sister looks overworked.Take care of her and go eat something too.You must be starving,"I replied,shaking her harder.Cassie bolted up at the news."Food?Food?!Where?"she asked,bright-eyed.I suppressed my laughter and pointed to the Great Hall.Frostbite was up and ready,stretching a little."YES!Oh Thor,I could eat a whole Red Death and still be hungry,"she commented,mounting Frostbite.They took off for the Great Hall.I shook my head and began working on the wall.Carpentry was not my strong point,so by the time I was done,the wall looked untidy,but it patched up the hole in the wall pretty well.

I spotted a few other houses that needed minor repairs,so I hammered continuously at them,making sure they were completely mended before moving on to the next.By the time I was finished,I was worn out and sweating like as if I had been wearing a woolen coat this whole time.I packed up everything,invited the villagers back into their houses and made my way to the Great Hall to check on Jessica.She was chatting with her sister,munching on a chicken leg.Cassie was eating fish off a stick.Castaway was faithfully watching over Jessica while sharing fish with Mayhem.I made my way over to them."Jessica,you alright?"I inquired.She smiled up at me."Quite,thank you.I'll get back to fixing the houses soon,"she assured me."I fixed them already,"I reported,sitting down beside her.I glanced at the sundial on a nearby window.It was half-past nine.'What am I to do for the rest of the day?'I thought idly,drinking some water from my flask.Castaway nudged me for a petting.I stroked his neck and examined his back spikes.Suddenly,I remembered something.Wasn't I supposed to meet Hiccup at the Academy at nine?!"OH NO!GOTTA GO!HICCUP'S GONNA BE SO MAD!CASTAWAY,ACADEMY!"I shrieked in panic,hauling myself up onto the saddle.Castaway darted out of the Great Hall and took off for the Academy.We reached the entrance in two minutes.My heart was pounding.Would Hiccup be mad that I was late?I took time to compose myself before entering.Sure enough,Hiccup was in the Academy,but he was busy poring over a piece of parchment with a worried and agitated look on his face while sitting at a table.

I sidled up to him."I'm here,"I began timidly."Yannied,are you playing a trick on me?"he demanded sternly,shoving the parchment into my hands.I read it.'GIVE ME MY THUNDERING TWISTER BACK'it read,the words big and ugly in midnight-black ink.I shuddered instinctively."I didn't write this,"I protested."Yannied,I'm sure nobody else in this world has ridden dragons except for the people of Berk.And nobody has ridden a Thundering Twister,which I'm sure is the name of Castaway's species that you've made up,"Hiccup retorted.I slammed the parchment down on the table in indignation."I did not do this!"I burst out. with an obvious hint of anger in my voice.Hiccup got up and banged his fist on the table."Yannied,I do NOT need any extra worry of other dragon riders in this world.If you wrote this,just admit it,"he frowned at me.I glared back at him,which surprised me,because I thought I'd never be able to even say anything bad about Hiccup,let alone openly defying him.We stood like that for a few seconds before the sound of flapping wings was heard behind us.We looked at who had arrived.It was Astrid,Nevaeh,Fishlegs and Zack."What's going on?"Astrid demanded to know."Nothing.It's only between Yannied and me,"Hiccup answered,still staring at me with a stony look in his eyes.I crossed my arms defensively and met his gaze.Astrid noticed the parchment and scanned it."Hiccup,I can say that the parchment isn't by Yannied,"she declared."Look at the ink used.It's too dark to be squid ink.And we all know Berk only uses squid ink when writing with ink.We get it from Trader Johann.And he doesn't trade any other type of ink,"she pointed out.I looked at her gratefully.Hiccup's frown softened.He sighed.

"I guess you're right.I'm sorry,Yannied,for accusing you.But what type of ink is it then,if not squid ink?"he questioned and apologised.My arms returned to my sides and my glare evaporated into a light smile.Toothless sniffed the parchment with suspicion,then growled lowly.He always did it when he smelled or saw something he knew was bad and hostile.Hiccup patted his head to calm him and rubbed a finger over the ink.It came off on his finger and he examined it.I took up the parchment and smelled the ink.Suddenly,I realised what it was.The familiar smell of the liquid spilled when Berk killed dragons."Dragon blood,"Fishlegs confirmed after getting a whiff of it.The dragons backed off.I ripped the parchment to smithereens and left them on the ground."Dagur's dead,so he couldn't have written it,and anyways he only wants Toothless.Alvin the Treacherous was killed by Dagur three years ago,so he's out.Who could've done this?"Hiccup queried."It looks like we have a new anonymous enemy,but this time it isn't Toothless who's the target.It's Castaway,"Hiccup ended.

Everyone turned to stare at me.

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