How It Came To Be (An LBR story)

Chapter X - On The Inside

"Where - where am I?" A voice says.

All around her there is nothing but darkness. She puts her hands to her face, checking to see if her eyes were covered but they aren't. She slowly stands up in case she hits her head on a low ceiling. She walks around, getting her bearing of the room. It's a stone room with nothing but her occupying it.

"I need to figure a way out of here," she tells herself. Just then a light appears.

************

"Astrid has been missing for two days now!" Hiccup slams his fist on a table.

The gang has never seem him like this and they were kind of scared. He seems physically bigger than he usually does and and his voice is gravely. It makes them wonder if it's actually Hiccup doing all these things.

He's broken a few tables in the Great Hall, he's gone through three swords trying to calm down but he's broken every blade.

Not even Toothless is able to calm his best friend down. He'd try to take Hiccup flying but Hiccup wouldn't budge away from the maps. At least he didn't forget to feed him.

A few more days go by and Hiccup continues on his rage. He chops wood, piles of it being stacked in the barn as he tries to clear his head. Rachel comforts Hiccup every day, and the gang lets her. Hiccup doesn't usually acknowledge her unless she's being annoyingly sweet when he's mad.

Rachel doesn't understand the fact that when Hiccup is mad, he prefers to be alone. Hiccup just doesn't want to accidently hurt somebody, so he wanders into the forest to do whatever it is he does and the gang doesn't worry about him.

"Hiccup, you have to calm down. We'll find Astrid," Rachel says, slowly approaching Hiccup while he fluidly moves his sword about him as if he's being swarmed by enemies.

"I'll calm down when Astrid is home safe," he growled unintentionally. Rachel kept going anyway.

"You won't think clearly until you calm down though. Until then, you're mind won't settle down," Rachel tries again.

"You don't know how my mind works. No one does. Sometimes I actually think more clearly when I'm mad, as if someone is thinking for me," Hiccup replies.

"Sounds like my brother," Rachel jokes. Then she steps on a twig.

Hiccup spins around, steel blade a blur as the tip smoothly rests millimeters before her left eye. She stands there, colored drained from her face.

************

The girl covers her eyes, the unexpected light in the darkness temporarily blinding her. Someone roughly grabs her as they drag her across the ground.

They exit the dark confinements to reveal dead trees covering the land.

"Outcast island..." she says.

"What is Outcast Island?" the man asks her.

"This isn't it?" she asks.

"No, this place is call Bloodwater, where everyone who wants to get away from their lands due to certain... problems, can," the mysterious man says. "Me? I'm here running from murder."

************

Rachel slowly backs away, but doesn't leave. Hiccup drops the sword tip in the dirt and lets the sword fall from his grip. She stands there, a questioning look in her eyes.

"What's going on with you Hiccup? You've never been like this," she barely says.

"I don't know, Rachel. The gang doesn't want to be around me because I scare them and it feels like something deep inside of me is trying to push its way out," Hiccup answers.

"I'm sure it's something to do with Astrid being kidnapped or whatever," responds Rachel.

"How can you be so sure?" Hiccup falls to his knees, tears forming in the corner of his eyes. "I don't even know what to do anymore."

She kneels in front of him, placing a comforting hand on Hiccup's shoulder. He looks up at Rachel, wondering why she's being so comforting and open.

"We'll find her," Rachel's voice breaks. A twig snaps and Heather turns her head to see her brother motioning for her to come.

Rachel quickly looks at Hiccup's downcast face and heads towards Paul.

"What are you doing?" Paul motions and angrily whispers so Hiccup couldn't hear.

"I can't do this anymore!" she says and quickly regrets from a backhanded slap to the face.

"We didn't get this far with this scam only to be stopped by a stupid conscience," his voice rises a bit. Rachel holds a hand to the red spot on her cheek and backs away. "Don't you run away from me."

Rachel turns around and heads towards Hiccup's last spot, but he wasn't there anymore. She just kept going and screaming for help. Minutes later she's in the cove under a few rocks to hide from Paul. Once her breathing steadies, she moves to remove herself from underneath the rock but a noise stops her. As it gets louder, she gets scared again. A face appears and she screams.

"Rachel, it's me, Hiccup," he reaches for her.

Rachel quickly scrambles out from beneath the rock and hugs Hiccup and quietly cries into his chest.

"Why are you crying?" Hiccup asks her.

"I'm sorry, Hiccup. I'm so, so sorry," Rachel only says and lets Hiccup go, only to disappear into the woods.

Later that day, Hiccup finds himself looking for her to ask her what was wrong. He looks all throughout Berk and finds no sign of her. He goes to the beach for some reason and sees an strange sight. A figure stands by a boat filled with two other people. Hiccup quietly makes his way within earshot of the conversation.

"...defected, sir. I can't rely on support here anymore. I need to initiante plan B," the lone figure tells the men in the boat. "If I have the paper, He'll know I'm doing what I have to do." The men in the boat pass someting to the loan figure and leave.

"And what might you be doing?" Hiccup approaches the loan figure. As he gets closer. the full moon reaveal a familiar face. Paul.