Bond of Two Lands

5. Camping With Strangers

The night now grew thicker and thicker around the Archipelago. And in it, above a peacefully cradling sea, a pair of dragons flew. One with the son of Berk's Chief, and one with his second-in-command.
"Hiccup, do you even now which course we should have?"
"Astrid, please don't nag on me just now. We're on the right course, I have the map here and it's impeccable."
  The blonde crossed her arms while staring at her fellow rider. "I'm not nagging. I'm simply questioning your navigating skills."
"Oh, really? Wanna give it a shot yourself?" Hiccup dropped Toothless' held and started loosing his self made map from the saddle. It was not until he attempted to throw it at her that Astrid realised that that was nothing the normal Hiccup would do.
She quickly flew in closer and grabbed his wrists. "Hiccup. Stop. It. You're too tired for this. We should find a camp site."
"No, I'm perfectly fi..."
"When did you last sleep?"
Hiccup opened his mouth to respond, which caused a sleepy yawn to break out of him. He tried to suffocate it but failed instantly. "Alright, I give in. Maybe a place for the night would be good."
"Great. So, where are we, Map Master?"
"Let's see... rather much south of Dragon Island, so we're on the right course."
Astrid let go of her own held to view the dusky map. She touched the space on the paper where the Archipelago ended and was replaced with another, unfamiliar sea. "Have you ever been there, at the Dun Broch Clan's territory?"
"No." Hiccup hesitated. "Not that I remember, anyway. But apparently there was a saying that I was to be betrothed with their princess when we were both newborn - a ridiculous saying, really. We are family, after all."
"Distant cousins?"
"Something like that."
They flew another little longer, until an unknown, barren island approached underneath them. The dragons landed on a cliff that rose above the shore and soon started to run around and play off the strictness of the long flight. The riders, on the other hand, was forced to stay alert despite their tiredness.
"I'll take the first watch." Astrid stabilised her axe within a spot of the rock near their sparkling fire.
"No, I'll do it. You need some rest."
"I'm not the one getting cranky here."
"Nor am I. Hey, why don't I take the first and wake you when I get tired?"
Astrid sent a suspicious look to the treacherously calm ocean below the cliff. "I don't like it. Something's wrong with this island. And what if you fall asleep before you wake me?"
Hiccup gestured to the pine tree woods behind them and the moss underneath their feet. A moss which Astrid found strangely familiar. "Peacefulness doesn't make it dangerous, Astrid. And, besides, we've got the dragons here right next to us."
"Okay, sure. But I won't like it."
"Of course you won't, milady." Hiccup reached for Toothless' saddle bag. "Fancy some bread?"
Astrid still frowned from worry, but nodded. Stormfly had joined up behind her back and now made the most perfect, warm pillow for her to fall back on. She thought that the treatment easily could cradle her to sleep if she let it. But when she saw Toothless do the same to Hiccup across the fire, she warningly reminded him to not fall asleep.
For a long time, they ate during silence. But even when the last crumble was consumed, Astrid couldn't quite go to sleep. She felt there was still questions to be asked.
"And you say there's a princess there?"
"Yes." Hiccup yawned. "Miranda, Melinda, something like that. I only met her once when I was little and they visited, but as I remember it, she spent most of that time in the woods."
"That's odd. I'd say princesses were more of the prude type that stays inside."
"Well, maybe she just likes to walk. Anyway, I think she's put under training nowadays. To become queen and so on."
"They actually do those kind of things?" Astrid stunned said.
"In the south, they do. Their tribes are way bigger than ours, and their laws more complicated, which is one of the reasons why our mission is so dangerous. They might not welcome or even tolerate us at their borders already as it is, so I propose that we leave the dragons behind for a bit at the beginning."
Both of them looked into a fire for a while, imagining the life in a tribe as big as the Archipelago. How different was the life there from the one on Berk?
Astrid hesitated for a little. "How come you know so much about them?"
Hiccup shrugged. "Dad told me, I guess, but it feels like something I've just always known. The ways of our allies and their tribes. We can call it the training I'd been given to become Chief."
"Sounds more like..." Astrid's eyes suddenly widened, focused on something behind Hiccup, and her hand was pulled to the axe faster than the blink of an eye. "Hiccup, get back."
He turned around while sitting down, now having both Toothless and Astrid setting up defence in front of him. He struggled to get his peg leg straightened out at the same time as he joined them with the flaming sword Inferno in his left hand. And so they waited, a long, critical second. Then the bushes were pulled aside.
"It's a Buffalord!" Hiccup exclaimed.
"A Buffalo... so that's why I recognised this!" Astrid grabbed some of the bright green vegetation. "It's not moss, it's just trampled grass! But why is it here and not on Buffalord Island?"
"And, more importantly, why is there a Buffalord here at all? We thought them to be practically extinct, and here there seems to be a whole other island with them! Do you think there are more than just this guy? Astrid, what if...!"
"Calm down, Hiccup. You're frightening him." Astrid gestured to the massive, brownish dragon that had walked right into their camp. It chewed slowly without taking notice of them for the moment, but neither of them wanted to risk experiencing its fury ever again.
The boy looked at the dragon with awe. "Of course. Sorry. But what are we going to do? We can't just leave this island without mapping it. Just think if the Scourge ever comes back..."
Astrid shuddered. "We can't. What if Viggo finds the map? He'd try to spread the Scourge again and then sell the cure, just as people did the first time we thought they were extinct. It would be the end of them."
"You're right. Naturally. I'm just... I'm so very tired, Astrid..." 
While they've been speaking, the Buffalord had lay down between Toothless and Stormfly, who surprised shared a grunt. It now slumbered with its head right next to the fire.
"Look at them." Astrid said. "If anything attacks us now, it'd be overcome within the minute."

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