Frozen Heart

Traveling

Hiccup and Toothless flew through the clouds, unsure of where exactly they were going. All Hiccup cared about was getting away from Berk and the terrible memories it held. Currently, the young rider was laying back on Toothless, his eyes closed but not asleep, for he was afraid of the nightmares he knew would come. Despite being the same one every time, the nightmare seemed to get worse each time he dreamt it.

Hiccup felt safe up here, in the cold, gray clouds with his best friend beneath him, flying him away from his troubles and hopefully to someplace better than the place he had been in for the past three months. He had no idea where they were heading, nor what the future held for them; all Hiccup wanted was to move on with his life, but something just refused to let him do that. He wanted a fresh start, someone to help him forget his pain and heal him.

Boy, was he in for a shock.

********

Anna walked with Kristoff up the mountain. Olaf the live snowman sat on Sven's back, the reindeer plodding along behind his master with his tongue dangling from his mouth. Anna wore her blue winter dress with the pink cape, and Kristoff wore his usual gray furs. The four of them were on their way to Elsa's ice palace, checking to make sure the palace was still in good shape. Anna knew her sister liked to know ahead of time if the palace was damaged so she could repair it when she visited later in the day. Anna didn't mind; she was happy to help her sister with anything and everything, and always jumped at the chance to come with Kristoff to gather ice to sell, so it was never out of their way to pop by the palace to check on the structure.

Anna glanced at her boyfriend, who was pulling the small sled up the slight hill that was blanketed with snow. He seemed to be struggling, but she knew he would never say if he was. "Are you sure you don't want Sven to pull it?" she asked him.

"No, I'm fine," Kristoff replied simply with a slight huff of air to catch his breath. They had decided to leave the big sled at the foot of the mountain, since it was harder to get up the hill to the palace.

"Are you sure?" Anna pressed. "Because we can always--" She stopped when she heard Sven growl behind her and looked back at him. The reindeer had stopped dead in his tracks, looking around at the sky and growling, his eyes narrowed. "What's up with him?" Anna asked curiously, a slight nervous tone to her voice. Sven rarely acted like this, and when he did, it usually meant trouble.

"I don't know," Olaf said as he hopped off of the reindeer's back, landing clumsily on the snow below. His little snowball feet were off-balance underneath him, so he tilted far to the left when he landed; it's a wonder he didn't fall over. The little snowman waddled around to Sven's front and waved his stick arms, trying to get Sven's attention. The miniature snow flurry danced above Olaf's head as he moved, following his movements. "Sven! Hey Sven! What's the matter buddy?"

"He's not gonna answer you, Olaf," Kristoff said tiredly. He looked around, trying to see what his pal was so agitated about, when he saw it. The shadow of something he thought was extinct or the stuff of myths, legends, and dreams. The clouds blocked out most of it, but the silhouette was clear.

A dragon was heading straight for them, and had no intent of slowing.