Escaping to You -Book I of the Journey Series

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

===Hiccup===

I wake up to something sloppy, sticky and wet wipe against my face and the smell of food cooking by a campfire. I open my eyes and see Toothless right infront of me, his eyes filling with relief. I gave him a reassuring scratch as I looked around. I saw that we were back at the campsite on the island. Speaking of....

Heather. 'She has been living out here on this island. Which means that this is her campsite...' I think to myself as I take in my surroundings. I sit up and find Heather roasting fish by the campfire. As she turned around, she jumped at the sight of me, but instantly relaxed.

"Hey, you're awake." She said. "Yeah. And not the best way you can possibly think of." I said as I gave a pointed look at Toothless. He just looked away guiltily and went back to eating his salmon. "Look, sorry about shocking you back there..." She said as she gave me a sheepish smile. I just smiled and reassured her, "There's nothing you have to be sorry for. I guess I passed out because I was thinking about you for three years now, and then you show up out of the blue on a dragon." I cannot believe I just said that.....Damn it, Haddock. Too much information!

I tried my best to keep my cool, but I could still feel the blood rush up my cheeks. I look over to her, and saw that her cheeks were tinted with red. And it made me calm down just a little. "Really?" She asked, timidly as she sat down next to me by the fire. "Yeah, as embarassing and surprising as it sounds." I replied and the two of us laughed. "I see nothing has changed." She said. "Yep, same story, different year." I told her, with a tint of humor in my tone. She handed me a cod and we both dug in.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you-what species is your dragon? I don't think I've ever seen anything like it." I asked her. "Oh, you mean Windshear?" She clarified and I nodded. "Yeah, She's a Razorwhip. They're both agressive and Dangerous. Her breath can burn the flesh off a human, from a hundred feet away. And one single blade of her tail is as deadly as the sharpest battle axe." She elaborated in a sort of aggressive way and I looked at her weirdly. She seems to notice because she looked at me worriedly.

"What's wrong?" She asked. "Nothing. Its just that....... the last time I saw you, you were sweet and kind and heartwarming, " I could see her cheeks turning dark. "....but now, you seem..... I don't know.....different and its kind of making me uneasy." I continued. She just sighed. "Look Hiccup, A lot has happened in the last few years. We're not kids anymore. Everything's changed." She said as she turned away from me and hugged her arms

I was surprised by her answer. "This isn't you. It can't be...." Its true. This wasn't like her, at all. "It is now. The last time you saw me I..... Nevermind. If-if you want to leave..." She riled up, her eyes filled with so much despair and hurt. My heart bled for her. "I didn't say that. Now what ever it is you are going through, we can help, me and Toothless. There's always another way." I said as I put an arm around her to show her as to reassure her.

She hugged me tight, like she was afraid to let me go,and whispered in my ear, "You're so sweet. Thank you, Hiccup. You have always been a great friend to me." I sighed in contentment as I held her in my arms, not wanting to let her go. And the two of us fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms.

The next morning, I woke up and felt a soothing warmth in my arms. I looked down and saw that my arms were around Heather and hers were around me whilst her head was on my chest. Her breathing steady and her face looked peaceful. Not really paying to what I was doing, I started stroking her raven-colored locks. She looked so relaxed and......... beautiful. I could stare at her forever.

Her eyes opened to reveal two beautiful emerald orbs and she smiled at the mere sight of me. "Good Morning." She greeted me, the looked at our position. Then, she pulled away from me and hugged her arms as she blushed furiously. She looked absolutely adorable. "Sorry, about that. I didn't realize that..." She went on. But I reached for her hand, held it tight and gave it a comforting squeeze. "It's alright. Honestly, I like waking up next to you." Really, Hiccup?! You just had to blurt that out, didn't you? I kept my cool as soon as I heard it from my big, blabbering mouth.

"Well, then, I guess it doesn't hurt that I liked it too, does it?" She said as she laced her fingers with mine. I stared at it with great fascination and replied, "I guess not." And the two of us smiled, never once letting go of each other's hands. Then, I saw that Toothless and Windshear laying closely next to each other. Both their bodies wrapped around each other. It was actually pretty cute.

"I guess we weren't the only one who slept in each others arms." I chuckled as I pointed to the two reptiles sleeping like a babies in the corner. She giggled and said,"I guess not." The two of us started making breakfast, and the crackiling of the fire woke them up. The weird thing is, Windshear didn't jump off of Toothless like Heather did with me. Instead, she nuzzled him in an affectionate manner, and Toothless gave her a small kiss. And the two of them dug in to their pile of cod ans seaslugs.

Heather must have also noticed this, because she stared at me with a questioning look. "Did something happen between them?" She voiced my thoughts. "I'm as just as clueless as you are right now." I replied. "But, based on my observations on their body language. I would say that both of our dragons are inlove." I told her. And I was just as shocked about it as she was. "Your theory makes sense, Hiccup. They fall asleep wrapped in each other's embrace. Then they wake up, showing affection and infatuation for each other already?" She observed.

"Love at first sight maybe?" I suggested. "Maybe." She just shrugged. And the two of us went back to eating. We finished our meal and cleaned up. "So, what are we doing today?" I asked her. She just sighed. "Hiccup, I need you to trust me on what I'm about to say, okay?" she asked me, almost desperate. I nodded, and she continued. "Two years ago, a year after I befriended Windshear. My village was attacked by Dagur and the Berserkers. We did everything we can to defend the village. But it wasn't until after they burned the whole place to the ground that I had to find out that my parents were killed by Dagur." She had tears in her eyes as she told me. I held her hand tight as she went on.

"For these past years, I've been corresponding with Trader Johann for Dagur's location. Word is that he escaped from Outcast Island and commandeered Johann's ship. As of now, he's stolen Johann's Gold and is using the profits to build a new armada. I've been planning every single day on my attack to get my revenge. In my spare time, I've been tracking down the thieves who robbed my village after it was burnt down and gave back everything that they have lost." She finished. Then she looked up to me and said, "Look, I understand if you wanna leave. I won't stop you." She stood up, but I grabbed her hand and laced it with mine. I faced her, my eyes looking straight into hers.

"Heather. I promised you that I will help you. And as crazy and suicidal as this revenge plot of yours sounds, I won't leave you. Also, I've missed the feeling of going on missions." I told her. And she seemed shocked. "What is it?" I asked her, confused and worried about her expression. "Nothing, its just that, I expected you to say that I was in way over my head and that I should stop what I was doing." She said as she snapped out of her dazed. I just gave her a smile and said, "It has been the most boring three years ever. Besides, I've been itching for some action in a long time." I smirked at her. "So, where do we go?" I asked. "Let's find Johann first." She smirked back.

The two of us mounted Toothless and Windshear and set off to find Trader Johann.