Beyond the Sunset | HTTYD (Discontinued)

Chapter Four

"Dragons?" Deav asked. "I thought dragons don't--"

"They do exist," I said. 

"I wasn't going to say they don't exist."

"You weren't?"

He shook his head. "I was going to say they don't attack people."

"They do if they're desperate or under the control of another species."

"What makes you think dragons did this?"

I ran my hand along the charred doorframe. "Simply kicking the door off its hinges wouldn't result in splintering this bad. An extremely large animal would have had to been trying to get in."

"What of the burnt doorframe, yet no burnt door?"

This answer was easy. "Monstrous Nightmares light themselves on fire during an attack or battle. A quick blow to the door wouldn't have ignited it, but prolonged exposure to the flames would have done this."

"Captain?" one of our crew said from the deck.

"Yes?" Deav answered.

"Oh, hi, Deav," he said with a wave, then turned to me. "Captain, we're ready to leave when you are."

"Wha--Captain?" Deav stuttered. "I'm--what?"

"We'll be up in a moment." I picked up my flashlight from the ground and climbed back up to the sunlight. 

"Why did he call you Captain?" Deav hissed under his breath.

"I don't know." Once we were back on our ship, it wasn't long before the ghost ship was far behind us. When I was sure of our course, I steadied the wheel and examined the papers.

Whoever had written them had the worst handwriting I had ever seen. I ended up copying the documents in my own handwriting so I would only have to translate once. 

There wasn't much in the first dozen papers or so. It was mostly just travel logs, rants, and specs of the ship. The few places he'd gone to were fully inhabited or in the wrong ocean.

"Captain?" another crew member asked from outside the door.

"Don't call me that," I said without looking up. 

"Sorry, Merica. Anyway, we think we've found something."

I stood up quickly and followed him to the top deck where Cody was waiting. 

"Why is the ship stopped?" I asked. 

"Look behind you," he said.

When I did, I saw something I wasn't expecting this early in our voyage, not in any universe. 

"Is that what I think it is?" I asked. 

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Cody said, "since you are our local expert on vikings."

"Just Berk and its allies," I corrected. "Let me get my notes."

I ran down to the room I was using as a study and shuffled through the stacks of paper to find the drawing I was looking for. After a too-long search, I finally located it and ran back up to where Cody was waiting.

"Found it," I said, now somewhat out of breath but too excited to care.

"Are they the same?"

I held up the intricate sketch. "It's missing a few parts, but yeah."

"What's with the ugly statue?" Blythe asked from one of the boats.

"It's a sign that we're closer than we thought." I left behind the crumbling statue of a viking warrior behind in favor of climbing the side of one of the sails. 

"Do you know where you're going?" Deav asked doubtfully from his post atop the mast. 

"Every one of these statues faced out to the sea; a symbolic representation of Berk being protected from all sides," I said. "Only one was out of view of the others: the Chief. He faces towards Berk. 

"So?"

"The highest point of Berk can be seen from the top of the statue. If I'm right, I'll see the island from there."

"If you fall to your death and die, I become Captain," he reminded me with a scowl.

"I'm aware, although I'm not the Captain."

I could feel the crew's eyes on me as I made the tedious climb up the statue. About halfway up, I ran out of handholds. It pained me to use knives to climb the piece of history, but it had to be done. 

I'd never been afraid of heights, but knowing that the edge of the viking's helmet could break at any moment did worry me a little. 

"Do you see anything?" Cody shouted up to me.

Remembering my task, I turned in the direction he faced. 

"It's there," I shouted, then sighed to myself. "It's beautiful."

I heard the crew's gasps before I felt the stone crumble beneath my feet, leaving nothing but air between me and the ocean. 

I clung to the rock, knowing full well that it was beginning to fall apart, bit by bit. 

A dragon would be pretty useful right now, I thought. 

"We're coming up there!" Cody shouted. 

"Don't worry about it! I got this," I yelled back, then launched away from the statue and plummeted towards the sea. 

The water was sharp and cold, seeping through my clothes and to my very bones. In a way, it was refreshing, but that feeling was quickly replaced by the need for oxygen. 

I clawed my way up to the surface and squinted against the bright sunlight. I wrapped the rope that had been thrown at me around my hand and was pulled back to the side of a ship, where I was hauled over the side and onto the deck. 

I was bombarded with questions. Questions about what I saw, questions about what I did, and questions about what was going to happen now.

"What were you thinking?" Cody asked. "You could've died!"

"I was thinking about the island I saw and how I would prefer to step foot on it, not be dashed against the rocks." I wrapped the blanket I had been given tighter around my shoulders and stood up, walking towards the ship's wheel. "Ready the sails!"

"You are in no condition to navigate this ship," Deav said with a slight scowl. He hadn't moved far from his post near the front of the ship, though he was now on the deck. 

"It's a little more than twelve miles. I'll live." I spun the wheel so the ship would face in the same direction as the statue. 

"I'm going to take over," he said, clearly intending to forcibly remove me from behind the wheel if necessary. 

"I told you that I am perfectly capable of doing this." I pivoted and flung a wire-net sort of trap at him, effectively pinning him to the mast with his arms behind his back. "I also told you that I am adequately prepared for most things that come my way, Soldier. 

I turned back to the ocean ahead of me and steadied the wheel, sailing to the island of my dreams.