The Great Beyond

Chapter 4: When Darkness Falls (Hiccup)

                I propped my elbows up on Toothless' back, resting my head against my hands. We'd officially spent this whole day trying to look for an island that would be suitable for an outpost, but every time, we seemed to strike out. There were the angry boars, and then the Blue Oleander, the Whispering Deaths, and the angry boars again. It seemed like an endless stream of uninhabitable islands. At this rate, it didn't feel like we'd ever find somewhere to set up an outpost.

"Hiccup?" I lifted my head, moving my eyes to Reign as she hovered closer. "You look discouraged." Before I could open my mouth, she continued. "We'll find an island, don't worry." Her reassuring smile caused my stomach to flutter, before I couldn't help but match her expression. She leaned over and kissed my cheek, then made her way back to Astrid, who began a rapid conversation with her. Whatever they were talking about, Reign kept shaking her head.

"Hiccup, look!"

I followed Fishlegs' point, spotting a large island with a huge mountain on one side of it. From up here, it didn't look like there was anything wrong with it, but then again, most of the other islands gave off that impression, too. All of us dove down toward the land mass, breaking off in different directions to survey the entire thing. I had to admit, nothing seemed off about it so far.

"This looks pretty good," I admitted.

"Those cliffs could work." Reign pointed to the large cliffs towering over us as we circled them. "Good sightlines, easily defendable." The rest of the group made their way back to us, just as hopeful as Reign and I.

"The location is great," Fishlegs added. "It's perfect."

"Yeah. Too perfect." I shook my head. Tuff really didn't need to inject doubt right now, especially when it seemed like we were finally settling on this location. "I'm just saying, in the immortal words of the mighty Thor, 'When something looks too perfect, it probably sucks.'"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Thor never said anything remotely like that," I scoffed.

"Oh, really? How do you know?" Tuffnut challenged. "Do you know Thor? Have you talked to him recently?"

"No, but—"

"Because I have, mm-hmm. And I don't recall him mentioning you." I shook my head. "Look, I just have a feeling about this place, and I think we all know what happens when I get a feeling."

"We ignore it?" I could tell Reign was stifling her laughter as she spoke, resulting in a smirk.

The rest of us dove toward a clearing on the island, choosing to settle in there for a while. The group had crowded around a point on the ground, staring at something, while Reign helped me unload a few of the things from Toothless' saddle bags.

"Okay, the first thing we need to do is set up camp for the night," I announced to the others. "We need dry wood for fire, we need fresh water, and we need someone on traps."

"Snotlout, what is that?" I heard Astrid ask from behind us. Reign and I made our way over to them, leaning down through the gaps in their circle to try and look at what Astrid was scoffing at.

"It's an 'S', for 'Snotlout'. I think aesthetically it would look nice flying over."

"That's ridiculous. It doesn't matter what the outpost looks like. It needs to be functional and operational."

"Uh, guys, what we really need is—"

"A place for rest, relaxation and replenishing after a hard day's work," Fishlegs interjected. "You're absolutely right, Hiccup. Look, Meatlug and I had some thoughts." He pulled out a shield with various little rocks and twigs on top of it, creating a layout for the base he imagined. When did he have time to do that?