Beyond the Sunset | HTTYD (Discontinued)

Chapter One

I was obsessed with Vikings my entire life. Not just any Vikings, but my 43-times great-grandparents. Their journals say they rode dragons for years before the majestic creatures went into hiding. No one has found them since; I've checked. Within only a few decades after the first dragons began to disappear, all records of the creatures stopped. It had been more than a thousand years since the last dragon was seen. 

I had dreamed of searching for the long-lost species since I learned of their existence. I had researched, traveled, and read about every possible lead. I found an extremely promising lead eight years prior, but I became a bit occupied being a sixteen-year-old in the middle of society's collapse.  My story starts when I found an opportunity to go after my theory and find out if everything I had read about was true. 

Four years before, I had nearly completely forgotten about the dragons in favor of trying to stay alive. 2102 was not a fun year, take it from me. The Collapse had ended three years prior and the world was not a fun place to live in. Many countries' keys to trade had closed off their borders, leaving the rest to fend for themselves. Law enforcement had left their jobs to help families, allowing for crime to skyrocket. 

If you haven't put two and two together yet, I'll spell it out: an eighteen-year-old girl who ran away from everyone to fend for herself in a world bent on ending her life, whether through starvation or murder, is not the best place to be.

I had begun to recognize the same people every time I journeyed to the subway tunnels in London. A scarred eye here, and oddly-cut mohawk there, always in the same places. It hadn't worried me at first; everyone hates the snow in a city without indoor heating systems. Looking back, I should have seen the signs and run for my life. 

Chloroform gives you a killer headache. Then again, so does getting punched in the face so hard you get knocked out. Logically, two negatives make a positive, so I would have a headache, right?

Wrong. It just turns into a really, really, painful pounding right behind your eyes that makes it hard to hear anything too loud or see anything too bright. Unfortunately, I had gotten both the lights and sound in a slightly ruined former police interrogation room.

"Those lights don't have a dimmer, do they?" I'd asked hopefully.

The woman in front of me had just glared at me. 

"What do you want? A heater? Makeup? Goodness knows you need some." 

She'd only stared. 

"Fine. Be that way." I had just stared back. She had a thin red scar running from her eyebrow to the bridge of her nose and another, smaller one near her ear. I had filed that identifiable trait away in my mind. 

"We know you found the location of Berk," she had finally said, her voice clear and quiet despite her war-looking facade. 

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Four years ago, you found a map used by a Berserker who was both an enemy and an ally to the people of Berk. We need that map."

"Oh, that thing? I remember that." I did, but barely. "I think it burned when I crumpled it up and threw it into the fire. What do you need it for?"

"We're trying to find the island. Do you remember anything from the map?" Her smile had turned from menacing to sweet in a second when she realized I was her only way to the map. 

"Do you have a map? Of the world, I mean."

She unfolded one she had found in her pocket.

"Most vikings lived in Scandinavia," I'd said, pointing to the group of islands near and in Europe. "The people of Berk were actually near Alaska. That's why no one had found the island yet."

"Where near Alaska?"

"I don't remember. Can I go now?" I had stood up to leave, holding the handcuffs out for her to unlock. 

"I can't do that until we find the island."

"What are you gonna do?" I'd asked. "Take me with you on the ship?"

"If we have to."

The door had rattled. 

"I'm in the middle of an interrogation!" she had shouted angrily. 

The door had slammed open and the woman had stood up quickly, gun in hand. With her distracted, I'd unlocked the cuffs and dropped a small round object from my pocket that filled the room with blue-tinged smoke. 

I had smashed through the window and tumbled out into the open air of a back alley in my city. I then grabbed a match from my pocket, lit it, and threw it into the room behind me. 

The loud explosion that followed had sent debris flying through the air. Without waiting to see who had survived, I'd taken off at full speed down the alley. 

I heard a voice I didn't recognize call my name, followed by a loud coughing fit. That must have been the person who opened the door earlier, I had thought. I'd kept running, not caring if the person was an ally or an enemy. I had only cared about getting as far away from the threat as possible. 

By the time I had reached my hideout in an old, dusty apartment, I was out of breath. I'd locked a dozen locks on the door and secured the covers on the windows before sitting down on the bed to let my lungs breathe. 

"I have to say, the security measures on this place are most impressive," a new voice had said from the couch in the corner.

I'd sat up quickly, taking my knife out of my pocket, ready to defend myself against the new threat. "How did you get in?"

"The air vents," He'd said simply. "I'm surprised no one's broken in that way before. I'm Endeavor, by the way."

"Are you with the woman who interrogated me?"

Endeavor had laughed. "No. I'm with an opposing group."

"I don't want any part of this." I'd motioned towards the door. "Now, get out before I blow up this whole building with you in it." My voice had shook, but I ignored it, hoping he would, too. 

"I can get you to Berk," he'd said. 

"Why do you care about that island?"

"My team and I want a fresh start. A new place to begin again."

I had replaced my knife in my pcket. "Alright. What's your plan?"