Dark Valkyrie

Twelve: Unexpected

Twelve: Unexpected

Astrid had actually returned to Caldera Cay once she had lost the Fliers and offered to help repair the damage from the Flier attack but Mala and Throk hadn't even considered the offer. They had not blamed her, for Viggo was their foe and needed little excuse to target Defenders' Isle but they knew their people were safer once was off the island. The Queen had reminded her that if she was in extremis, she should still return , for they were allies and they could never turn her away if she was desperate and they had generously resupplied her, given her medicines, instructions to treat her side (which had bled a little from the exertions of the aerial battle) and a wide selection of bows, crossbows and dart blowpipes that she had gratefully accepted. They had also supplied her with one of their uniforms, which she had gratefully received and already partially integrated into her outfit, to improve her ability to move unnoticed. And then she had left, her face cold and set, hating Viggo and Krogan more than ever for targeting innocents once more.

Isn't that what you did? she reminded herself as she settled on Stormfly for the flight back towards the Edge. But that was the Hunter Tribe, their support and recruiting base...and the people who profited while Berk starved. They are the people who could have claimed Hiccup, who still keep slaves. So they deserved to be destroyed.

Then she rested her hand on the dragon's scaly shoulder, feeling the play of muscles as Stormfly faithfully headed home. She knew that she had to keep moving and that there was nowhere she could count as safe now. She certainly couldn't return to Berk because of the risks of Johann targeting her home and she knew she couldn't seek refuge with any other friendly tribe. She was on her own, with just her dragon-and her revenge.

Now she just had to hope that what she wanted was still on the Edge...

oOo

"I cannot believe you sat there and apologised to Hiccup while he was asleep and couldn't hear it!" Ruff told Snotlout as they sat in the Great Hall. The stocky rider glared at her and half-heartedly threw a chicken leg at her. She ducked, allowing her brother to grab it and start eating the missile.

"Twintuition," he mumbled. "Mmm. S'good chicken..." And then he realised what he was doing. "Agh! This is cannibalism!"

"Muttonhead," Snotlout grumbled. "Look, I couldn't wait until he woke up because he may never wake...or he could die. And I don't want him to die without my saying the words."

"But do they even count if he wasn't awake to hear them?" Ruffnut asked him pointedly.

"What if they don't?" Fishlegs asked worriedly, recalling his own confession. Heather patted his shoulder.

"Look, Hiccup is the most stubborn person we know-maybe tied with Astrid..." she said. "And I believe that if there is a way to return, he will find it."

"But what if it is cowardly to just say an apology when Hiccup is unconscious?" Fishlegs asked, his honest face troubled. "I mean, I might as well say the confession in my room to myself, for all the value it has." Snotlout gave him sideways look.

"I apologised to him-and I know he heard it, because when I went and apologised to him, he held my hand." Ruff rolled her eyes. "Really. His hand gripped mine. Really tightly."

"And now you'll think that because you made an apology when he was unconscious, you've done it," Ruffnut told him with devastating insight. "You'll feel the weight has lifted from your chest and the guilt has lifted and suddenly it's all okay?" Snotlout opened his eyes to scorch a retort and then he shrugged and shut his mouth.

"Um, yeah actually," he mumbled.

"I do believe that there is evidence that those who are unconscious and even in a coma, hovering in the twilight between life and death, are still able in some way to perceive sounds," Tuff announced. "Those waking can quote conversations, songs and even confessions..."