Dragon Boy

Chapter 5: Waiting

Hello! It's been a while! I think it's been about a month since I updated, and I was actually about to discontinue this story. But- people asked me to continue it, so here I am, with another chapter.

First, I should tell you that I made some changes to the last chapter. So, you can go back and read it if you like. But you don't have to. They were just some changes that I thought would make the story better in the future.

Second, I'm sorry for any grammar mishaps and/or spelling errors. It's midnight and I only proofread it once.  So here's the fifth chapter!

Astrid's P.O.V

Sometime during the night, a soft pelt fell on top of my sleeping form. I tensed up, forgetting where I was, I gripped my ax and swung my leg out, knocking someone over.

“Wha-” I heard someone yelp.

Looking up, I saw a body sprawled out on the ground, and a dragon looking up from it's slumber. Hiccup.

“Sorry!” I whispered to him.

“What was that for?!” He said rubbing the back of his head.

“Sorry, instincts,” I responded. “What's this?” I asked lifting up the blanket. The cool air slipped under and I shivered.

“You were shivering,” he responded. “I thought you would want a blanket.”

“Thanks,” I said wrapping the blanket around me.

“Aren't you cold?” I asked.

“Nah, I can handle myself,” he said walking back to his dragon. That seemed to end the conversation.

I layed back down and wrapped myself farther into the blanket. It smelled like fresh air and wood. The smell was comforting, and it's what brought me back to my dreamless sleep.

~

I was awaken by a rough shake and an urgent voice.

“You need to get up. Now.” At first I didn't understand, but then I heard the loud blare of the warning siren. A warning for a dragon raid.

I sat up and threw the pelt at Hiccup's chest, who turned around and threw it at the ground in front of his dragon.

The siren blared again. More dragons. I grabbed my trusty ax and jumped up. It was still dark out, but I could see the faint glow of the sun rising. Hiccup was putting something on Toothless's tail. It was the fin he made, the other half to it.

“We havn't had time to test it,” he said putting on a dark leather helmet with 3 rows of small horns. “I don't know if it'll work.”

I didn't know what that meant. Did it mean we were stuck here? One of the ledges to the opening crumbled earlier. Maybe it did mean we were stuck.

Then I saw Hiccup climbing on his saddle.

“What are you doing! I thought you said you didn't test it?!” I whisper screamed.

“Well, we have to test it somehow. Now is as good a time as ever.”

“What am I supposed to do? I can't get out,” I said gesturing towards the broken ledge to the opening.

“Hop on.” Yup. It's official. This boy was insane.

“You are out of great Odin's mind if you think I'm going to hop on that!”

“Fine stay here. Come on, bud,” he said to the dragon.

“Wait!”

“What? I have to hurry!”

“You're gonna come back right?” If he left, or died, I was going to be stuck down here. And probably die myself.

“No I'm going back home.” He said it so seriously, I thought he was actually serious. He was joking right?

“Are you jok-”ing. but he and his dragon leaped up and flew into the fading darkness, leaving me to wonder.

~

I spent the whole day doing a lot of wondering. Questions like “would he come back?” and “did he die?” rattled my brain. Which of course led me to believe the worst, and led on to more terrifying ideas, such as, “I am going to die a slow death” and “I am definitely going to die a slow death”, to which my eyes wandered on their own, landed on my ax and thought “okay, how long should I wait before taking drastic measures?”.

The sun was already high in the sky, and Hiccup still wasn't back. Which either meant the raid is lasting a long time, or he followed up on his words and went back home. I didn't want to believe the latter version.

I sat, knees tucked up to my chest and my head burried in my arms. He had to come back. He had to.

I looked up and noticed the fish swimming around in the small lake. I hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon. I stood up and walked over to the lake. Many fish were swimming about. I looked around, spotting a nearby stick that would suffice as a spear. I peeled off the end bark of it so it was somewhat pointier. I took my boots off and stood in the lake. The fish scattered everytime I moved, so I tried to stay still until they worked up the courage to come closer. Once they did, I tried to spear them with the stick, to no prevail, and every time I would do that, the fish scattered again at the movement. I got so frustrated at not catching a fish, and so desparate to eat, that after 15 minutes I started lunging at them. Water splashed on my clothes, and at one point, I was completely submerged underwater after trying to catch one. So now, I was soaking wet, and still no fish. Eventually I just gave up.

I wadded out of the water and sat back down. The air felt cold on my wet skin. I noticed the fur pelt from eariler, still on the ground, and wrapped myself up in it. All I could do was wait.

After an hour more of waiting, I about had it. No raids last this long. He had to have gone home. I looked up at the broken ledge, the only thing stopping me from getting out. Maybe there would be another ledge that I didn't see.

I walked over to the ledge that led to the opening and hauled myself up the first ledge. Then the next, and the next. Once I got near the top, I saw the broken hand hold. I didn't want to look down, it would only bring thoughts of what if I fell. 12 feet up and landing on your back would either A. put you into a coma, or B. fracture your spine or something, which I didn't feel like happening to me.

I was right, there was a smaller hand hold a bit farther to the right of the broken one. I let go of the one I was onto and reached for it. It seemed a lot farther now, and I couldn't reach it. I was already leaning too far to bring myself back to the one I was holding onto before, and a state of panic began to set in. I had to reach it.

“Oh great frigga,” I panicked. “Come on. Just... a little... more...” crack. The ledge gave out, and I was falling.

         I closed my eyes. I shrieked. Someone yelled my name. Arms wrapped around me. I hit the ground.

A/N: Hehe. Kind of a cliff hanger. I feel like this was more of a filler chapter, but, ho hey. All stories need a filler chapter, right? Astrid has some bad luck with those hand holds. Well, I'm extremely tired, it's midnight. So... Until next time!