Published: 12th feb 2022

T.W: ⚠️implied mention of S.Harassment/Assult⚠️

I know I don't usually put trigger warnings in my books because I don't tend to have the need for them, but I felt it was important to include this one. Stay safe everyone!

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Previously:
Astrid was alone, disposing of Gosta's body, but was caught literally red handed by Kurt—who she had met earlier, in the sleeping quarters. After a small confrontation, the two are interrupted by a man, who needs to lead them to a meeting being held by the captain—who, conveniently, is looking for his son. Astrid is convinced Kurt is going to hand her in, but he doesn't, and she's very confused as to why. They all decide to not let their guards down, however.

***

Astrid's POV

"Don't you think it's weird that he didn't tell the captain?" Lokus asks us, stating the obvious. "Surely he'd be the first person he'd tell." He adds, referring to the captain.
"Yeah, it's like that time that Tuffnut and I saw a guy accidentally set his fishing boat on fire. Sure, we watched for a while and enjoyed the destruction, but we did go and tell the chief... eventually." Ruffnut exclaims.
"I don't know. It's just...weird?" I mumble, watching Kurt laughing with a few guys on the other side of the room. Acting like nothing is wrong.
"Maybe he has an inferior motif?" Snotlout suggests. We look at him, confused.
"Do you mean interior motive?"
He shrugs. "That's what I said."

"So, maybe he has plans? Like blackmail?" I observe, moving on. "Do you think he would blackmail us? Use it against us so he can get what he wants." But what, exactly, would he want from us? We don't have anything we could give him. Do we?

"What should we do if he does try to blackmail us? Go along with it or let the secret be out?" Lokus wonders. "I had an uncle who was blackmailed once... but the guy that blackmailed him just kept doing so. He was getting my uncle to do 'favours'— but soon these favours got bigger and harder. Eventually my uncle was putting his life on the line. Do you think this just guy would do that to us?"

"I mean...  I don't know. We outnumber him, right?" I speak up, trying to sound confident—though I'm pretty sure it comes off as more hesitant than anything. "Surely he wouldn't be able to force all of us." 
"We could just ask him," Ruffnut speaks up. I look at her, incredulous, and she notices. "What? He's literally right there." She points over to him. I glance over, seeing him having a drink of mead while the people he was speaking with walk away.
"Orrr we could... Y'know." Snotlout drags a finger across his neck. "Get rid of the competition."
"We're not..." I lower my voice, "...killing him. That, for one, would raise more questions. And we're not murderers."

"Well, you are," Snotlout smirks. I glare at him and he holds his hands up in surrender. "Just saying it how it is."

"Ignore him," Lokus roles his eyes and crosses his arms.
"Yeah, he's just jealous that he hasn't killed anything in his entire life." Ruffnut snickers and Snotlout glares at her, offended.

I look over at Kurt again. "Okay, I'm just going to get this other and done with." I begin to walk off.
"Astrid, wait! What are you doing?" Lokus hisses, I glance back and shake my head.
"You guys stay here," I tell them and Snotlout throws himself on the food without hesitation or a care in the world. It's good to see where his heart lies.

"What are you doing?" Lokus repeats.
"I'm getting answers," I respond simply as I walk away and over to Kurt. As I walk over, I force my breathing to remain slow and calm in order to remain composed, but I can't help but feel nervousness build with every step. What am I doing? I ask myself. Is it really worth it? What if he just rips me a new one now and turns me in? Why should I jeaprodise the chance to help Berk. I'm supposed to be the heir, right? Am I making the right decision here?

But it's too late to back away, because now I'm here and it would be very weird to suddenly walk away. Besides, I probably shouldn't have my back to him. I look at him, expecting a threat or an insult, but don't receive what I thought I would.

He's pretending he hasn't noticed me, looking off to the side and drinking his mead (which is fair, if I was him I'd want to forget what I saw). I stare at him for several seconds, but he keeps up the act. Well, Guess I'm starting this. "Why'd you do it?" I demand, cutting right to the chase.
"Hmm?" He answers absentmindedly without making eye contact. I role my eyes.
"Why'd you not turn me in to the captain?" He stays silent, downing the rest of his drink, so I persist. "Why did you lie to him?"

He stays silent again and I'm getting frustrated. He leans over to the table and pours more mead into his mug. I purse my lips, ready to press him further, but he opens his mouth. He hesitates at first but I figure it's best to be patient and let him speak.

"I..." he clears his throat. "I just... didn't." He follows his words with a sip of his drink.

"That's not an answer," I insist, crossing my arms.

"Look, girl, I didn't do it, alright?! Isn't that enough for you?! I didn't do it and—and I won't do it." I wonder if he'd stay true to those words, though.

"No, it's not enough. I want to know why."

"Why! Why do you need to know so badly?!" He raises his voice and looks at me for the first time. "Can't you just accept that I didn't tell him and move on?!"

"You were ready to turn me in, ready to fight me for it!" I retort, my emotions getting the best of me. "I was sure you would tell the captain that I killed his son! You saw me dumping his body into the ocean and yet you did nothing! So tell me, for Odin's sake!"

"Well how could I?" He yells. "How, how could I when you acted the way you did when that man grabbed you!"

I stare at him, taken aback. He continues, getting seemingly more worked up as he looks away from me again, "I saw the way you froze up, I recognised that look because it happened to— because I... it's what.. because I've seen the same look in the damn mirror!" His voice shakes, struggling to string together a sentence.

Now I don't know what to say. Tense silence hangs in the air. I don't know what kind of response I was looking for, but this certainly wasn't it. He takes a sip of his mead and stares down at his mug. He swallows. "I was young, and it was barely stopped in time..." he whispers, voice hoarse. He squeezes his eyes closed, appearing pained, before he inhales slowly and opens his eyes again and counties quietly with an emotionless face, "But I still think about it. The way you reacted was all I needed to know... unless I was wrong?" He looks at me at the last sentence, almost hopefully. I rub my arm, uncomfortable.

"He was... going to." I admit, voice low as I flick my eyes away. I don't want the others to know, I couldn't stand to see their faces or hear their judgment. "I escaped, ran away, but he... he was after me," I feel like I owe him a full explanation, but I remain vague, "Wasn't going to stop. I found my friends and Disa, but he was there and he... well, he killed Disa and then ended up dying but it wasn't intentional. I'm not sorry about it though."

It falls to silence again.

"I know that this wouldn't usually come from someone who just watched you dump a body, but... I'm on your side. I think? As long as no one else dies."

I give him a surprise look, but nod. "I don't, uh, make a habit of going around killing people," but I will if it comes to that—if that's what it takes to save Berk, "but... I appreciate your support." I huff, I don't often show gratitude to people. But, he earns it. "T-thanks." I barely press the word out. I have as much trouble showing gratitude as I do apologising.

He nods and his gaze hardens. "Just know, I won't hesitate to step in if you fall out of line again," he downs the rest of his drink, slams the mug down, then walks past me and out the door without another word as I turn to watch him leave, conflicting thoughts in my head.

Fishlegs' POV

Now, I know what you're thinking. "Why haven't we heard from you in so long?" "Are you not important?" "Are you dead?" "Were you simply forgotten?" Well, guess what. The author didn't forget about me. Well, not on purpose anyway. But in case you're worried, there's good news! I'm alive. My mother always told me the Ingerman family are survivors. Guess she was right.

Somehow, by the luck of the gods, Randi and I managed to stay together through the crashing waves and as far as we can tell, we was able to keep the baby alive. We actually ended up washing up on the shores of an island. Which is good, we were probably pretty close to death. However it's not settled as far as we can tell, though we've stayed by the shoreline. Hopefully the island is, at the very least, habitable. We still haven't seen anyone else, we have no clue if they're alive.

"Do you know where we are?" Randi asks me, snapping me out of my thoughts. We've been here for a few hours, it's day time now, and we've managed to start a small fire. Good on Randi for taking wilderness lessons when she was younger, I guess.

"No. No I don't," I respond. "We'll have to go for a walk around the island, see if there's anyone. I doubt it."

"At the very least, food. Tuloker can't last without food." She gestures down at the baby in her arms. I nod in agreement.

"Yeah, if not we'll build a raft and do our best to find a settled island." 

It's silent for a minute, before she chuckles slightly. "This really didn't go to plan, huh. It's like the whole world is against us at this point." She shakes her head.

"Yeah, but we—we can't give up hope! Berk needs our help. Stoick needs our help." I tell her. After all, we may be the only hope left. Who KNOWS if any of the others are alive!

"We don't even know where we are, Fishlegs." She sighs. She becomes more stressed as she continues, "We have a very young baby. Berk is under siege and we have no means of getting there. We don't even know if anyone is still alive!"

"You don't think I know that?" I snap at her, then immediately feel bad. "Sorry, I hate this as much as you, probably more. I just think that we need to have a clear head for this. The best we can do right now is try to figure out where we are and how we can survive." I can't believe I'm the headstrong one in this situation. I'd give anything to turn tail and run, to not have this responsibility on my shoulders, but I've got to be rational otherwise no one will.

She groans, kicking a rock. "I know, I'm just... angry." She rants. "I don't think it's fair, how we have to do this. We're not even adults. How is any of this fair?"

"We're Berkians. Since when has anything been 'fair' for us?" I retort. "Look, I don't mean to be harsh with you but I need you to understand. If we don't do this, don't help Berk, then they may die because of us. If any of the others are alive, they may die." I gesture to the baby. "Lokinut will die."

She sighs, looking at the baby in thought.

"Do you really want that on your consciousness?"

It falls silent and I start thinking that I didn't get through to her, but she finally speaks up after a little while.
Ok." She admits quietly, looking up from the baby and giving me a short nod. "I needed to hear that. I'll do it—I-I'll uh, help you do it."

I give her a nod in return and offer her a smile, which she returns. "The least we can do is try."

Mystery POV (refer to earlier chapters to refresh your memories, pretty sure latest appearance is chapter 52)

I stand before my boss, keeping my eyes forward and my posture straight. He paces behind his table, with nothing but a tight jaw being an indication to his feelings.

"So..." he begins slowly, tensely, "you lost the target."

"Yes, sir."

"It was in front of you,"

"Yes, sir."

"You has the opportunity to complete your mission, but you let it slip through your fingers."

My heart starts beating faster and my throat tightens. "Yes, Sir." I force out. "When I went to act it was too—"

"I DO NOT WANT YOUR EXCUSES!" He exclaims, knocking a bunch of plates off the table and making me flinch violently. "Do you know what you've done?! The prophecy has emerged because you were unable to stop it! You promised me you would get the job done!'

I suck in air shakily but try to conceal my fear. "I tried, sir."

"You disappointed me, soldier."

I falter, staring at the ground now when he approaches me. He grabs my chin in a tight grip and forces me to look at him. "Do you know what happens when people disappoint me?" He squeezes hard on the last word. I suck in air through my nose, trying not to shake under his gaze.

"No, sir," I mutter, staring into his dark eyes.

"Well, you're about to find out," he backs off with a sinister smirk.

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Am I attracted to mystery guy's boss? Pfft, nooo. *laughs nervously*

Anyway, I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in a while, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I start university next and boy am I gonna have a crisis. I'm so nervous.

But yeah, not sure how it'll effect my schedule or my writing, but I'll do my best to keep writing when I can. Thanks for sticking with me for so long 😅

Yes, I forgot about Fishlegs for a bit. Ish. He wasn't relevant to plot, in my defence.

Here's a random not very funny quote:
My brother: *referring to an old story of mine (I think)* are you gonna delete it?
Me: idk, I have attachment issues to things I hate

Alright, until next time! What was my sign off?

🍰 Eat some cake 🍰
(I think? Lol)