Ch. 3- Dreams of the Past

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"Where are we?" I asked Brother as he dragged me through a cave, a torch remained to be the only light source. I stumbled over the back of his boot. "Sorry." I stayed as close to him as I could, stumbling along the way.

"Just follow me," he whispered.

"You know that if we get caught, we will be in big trouble, right?" It was the middle of the night, and we weren't supposed to be outside then, let alone the dangerous woods.

"Don't worry, Star. Everything will be fine."

"But-" He stopped, turned around, looked me in the eyes, and put his hands on my shoulders.

"Star, everything will be fine. Trust me. Now, quickly, this way." He crawled through a hole in the wall. It's like two in the morning, I thought to myself, must we do this now? I yawned. I wanted to go back to sleep.

"Where are we going?" I asked, following him. I slouched over to walk through the tunnel before deciding to just crawl along with him.

"Shh, close your eyes," he whispered, standing up. As I stood up, he warned, "Watch out, Star, you might hit your head on this wall." He patted the wall in front of us, which barely gave us room to stand. "Close your eyes."

I closed my eyes and felt him pulling me by my wrist around the short corner.

"Now, open your eyes."

I couldn't believe what I saw. Everything was... wow. It was night yet the whole room- cave- was lit up, almost like day. Pillows and blankets laid in a corner, a basket next to it. A small box was next to the wall in front of us, a smaller box next to that. A few of our toys that I noticed went missing were in another basket. A few of our drawings were on the wall, not many but still some. Most of the floor was covered in a big blanket. The roof was ice. It was cool in the room- not exactly cold but not warm either.

"What- Where- How?" I stuttered.

"Happy birthday, Star."

"How?" I looked around the room.

"I found it last week. I couldn't sleep and took a walk and ended up outside the hole we just crawled through and in here and... well... you get the idea, and here we are," he rambled.

I ran to give him a hug. "Thank you, ------! I absolutely love it. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I love it!" I released him from my hug and took a deep breath. "I love it," I said more calmly.

"You're welcome, Star. I'm glad you like it."

"I don't like it. I love it!"

He chuckled. "I'm glad you love it. It's your birthday present from me to you."

"This is the best present EVER!" I jumped up and screamed. The sound bounced off the walls and hurt our ears.

"Just try not to get too excited," he joked, uncovering his ears.

"Sorry," I whispered. His response was a few chuckles.

"I like- no love- what you gave me for my birthday." He held up his backpack I made full of other small gifts I made him. Our birthday was on the same day, just a year apart. We loved it that way. Dad, Gobber, and a few other people said someday we wouldn't. We didn't believe them though.

"Happy sixth birthday, big brother," I said, smiling.

"Happy fifth birthday, little sister," he smiled back.

We played for hours in that cave. Dad was a bit mad at us for coming home around noon the next day, but we weren't in that much trouble considering it was our birthday.

Brother, Dad, and I spent the day celebrating. By the end of the day, Brother and I agreed that it was the best day ever.

It's still the best day ever. I'm not sure if another day will ever surpass that day.

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[Different dream]

"Can't catch me!" I yelled as I ran ahead of dad and Brother. Dad was chief, but talking a break for a few hours to take us swimming.

"Oh yeah?" Brother started to chase me. Dad laughed.

We were going swimming today. Dad thought since it was warm enough that he would take us. Brother and I loved to swim and didn't have any argument with it at all.

"Almost there," Brother stretched out to try to tap my arm.

I took one step to the right and stopped. As planned, he ran right past me, giving me a few seconds to change direction. "Ha ha!" I ran to dad. "Did you see that, Dad? Did you? Did you?" Brother just reached us when I finished.

He laughed. "Yes, I did see that, Star. Good one."

"Yeah," Brother said, "Good one."

"Thanks."

"Come on, children. Almost there." Brother and I laughed as we all continued on.

We went swimming in a cove. It was like a giant bowl with some trees, rocks, soft grass and a huge pond in the middle. Brother and I played here a lot. We played in the water for hours on end.

"Come on. Time to head back home," Dad said, around sunset.

"Okay, Dad." I slowly got out of the water.

"Yes, Dad." Brother followed.

We dried off some and started the walk back home.

When we got there he told us to get ready for bed, and he'd tell us a story when we were done. We quickly got ready.

Dad sat in his chair, waiting for us. "Dad!" We quickly ran to give him a hug, he set us on his lap.

"There y'all are. I was beginning to think y'all weren't coming," he joked, placing a kiss on mine and Brother's foreheads.

"We had fun swimming today, dad!" Brother said.

"Really?" He asked.

"Really," I confirmed. "I'm glad you took us. It was so much fun! Can we go again tomorrow?"

"Well, I'm glad you had fun."

"Can we, Dad? Can we go back tomorrow?" Brother asked, excitedly.

"Sorry. I've got work tomorrow. But we'll try and go soon," he promised.

We talked about the day as dad made dinner. Soon after dinner, dad gave us our story and sent us up to bed.

******************

"Bye, dad." Brother and I said. A bunch of people from the village to find something to do with dragons that attack the village. We stood on the dock, waving, as the boats slowly sailed out of sight.

"Ah, daddy hates you two so much he's leaving!" The girl from the group of mean kids said. The other kids laughed.

"That's not nice to say," Brother stood in front of me.

"Of course it isn't. I wasn't trying to be nice," the girl said, rolling her eyes.

"Come on, Star. Let's go home." Brother and I went home.

The next week we had the house basically to ourselves. Once a day, around noon, one of the few adults who stayed behind to watch the village would check up on us but after that Brother and I would play in the woods or go to our secret place. This normally happened a few times a year but normally Gobber came over to watch us. This time, he went with dad.

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Brother insisted on goofing around while fishing. He could never sit still. Stoick sighed, smiling slightly. He just wanted a nice, relaxing day off with his two young kids. He should have known better with his hyperactive son. Surprisingly, his daughter, the younger of the two, hesitated before pulling her line back in and joining her brother. She actually wanted to fish. Either the need to move around or the want to please her brother took over, and she gave in. Probably the latter. His daughter did everything her brother wanted, even if it meant trouble.

"Kids, sit down for ten minutes, then you can stop fishing, okay?" he tried to reason.

"Okay, daddy," his daughter, known as I, instantly agreed, sitting back in my spot.

Brother whined. "But fishing is so boring, dad. Why can't we play while you fish?"

Dad frowned, making Brother sit in his seat. "Because all your shouting and rocking the boat is scaring the fish away. You don't have to fish, but don't run around, either."

Brother still grabbed his fishing pole, hooked the bait, and threw it into the water, glumly.

"Don't look so down, big brother," I smiled. "Let's see who can catch the most fish, okay?" He loved competition, though winning and losing never meant much to either, just the excitement of the game.

The boy perked up. "Deal!"

A good hour passed and neither of us gave up on our little game. Dad smiled, content with just fishing peacefully as a family. Usually he was stuck on the shore with Brother and I running around. I guess he figured a boat would keep us calm-er. He was sort of right. I had four fish, and Brother had eight. He was good at fishing but was already getting bored.

He dropped his ninth fish in the bucket and dropped his fishing pole. "I win. This is getting boring again. It's been over ten minutes, let's play."

"But I want to fish," I said softly. The sad face Brother made had me reeling my line back. "Okay, just give a minute."

"Yay!" he shouted, jumping up.

"Don't play around, ------," dad said to Brother, sternly.

"Why, dad?" he asked. "It's been over ten minutes."

"Because the boat will tip over if you continue to mess around. Now sit. You can play while sitting, okay?"

"Yes, dad. Sorry, daddy," he apologized, sitting down.

Suddenly, the wind grew stronger, nearly knocking an unsuspecting me down. Brother helped me stay upright for a moment then sat me down.

"Daddy, it's too windy," I complained. "The wind is blowing my hair everywhere."

"I know, sweetheart."

"Dad, look," brother pointed to the huge wave rushing towards us.

"Stormy clouds!" I called, pointing.

Dad huffed. "Kids, sit down." He lowered the sail on our small boat that wouldn't even be able to hold us comfortably if we laid down. He also used oars to push us away from the storm. But the winds grew stronger and the storm came quickly. A huge wave nearly knocked the boat over. Dad had to grab Brother to keep him from falling overboard. "------, hold on to Starfire and the side of the boat. Star, hold on tightly to the boat, okay?" We both nodded and did as told.

The rain started pouring, drenching us in the cold water. Waves sometimes splashed in, soaking our already cold feet. Most of the time, the waves just lifted then lowered and rocked the boat. I didn't like it.

"Daddy, I want to go home!" I cried. "I'm cold." My teeth were chattering, and I shivered into Brother, who felt warm but was getting colder.

"I'm trying, Star. I'm trying," dad grunted.

I was pressed against the side of the boat, with Brother squished to my other side, providing me with some warmth. Soon, his teeth started clattering, too, and his bangs clumped together in front of his eyes, but he didn't let go of me or the boat.

"Hold on tight, Star," he said.

"I am."

"Good." He leaned into me, shivering worse than me. I looked up, concerned, but his eyes were closed. His grip on me didn't falter, so I rested my eyes, too. They were irritated with the sea water that kept splashing in my face.

A wave hit the side of the boat, pushing us almost sideways. "Daddy!" I screamed, falling off the bench and onto the floor.

"Star!" Brother picked me up off the floor.

Another wave hit the boat and I fell onto him. Another wave hit us and more water poured into the boat.

"Daddy, I scared." I held on to Brother as he put one arm around me and his other hand on the side of the boat.

"I know, sweetheart. Don't worry, everything will be alright. Just keep holding onto the boat."

I buried my face in Brother's tunic. "I wanna hold onto brother."

"It's okay, Star. I've got you," Brother soothed, holding onto the boat with one hand and gently running his other hand over my wet and tangled hair.

The storm got worse. Thunder and lightning filled the sky almost non-stop. The rain made it difficult to see more than a few feet away from the boat. My hands and most of my body were numb, and I'm sure Brother's were, too. The waves kept dunking us underwater for a second or so. Sometimes we'd have to cough out water if we weren't paying close enough attention or mis- timed when to breathe. I coughed the most.

It seemed like hours passed before a wave knocked Brother's grip on the boat loose. He would have fallen off if his other arm wasn't caught around my waist and the side of the boat. He scampered to regain his hold on the boat.

My eyes were wide after what I saw. Dad hadn't noticed, so Brother told me to keep quiet. "He's doing enough as is," he reasoned. "No need to worry him further. I'll just hold on tighter."

So I kept quiet.

More waves made it harder and harder to stay on the boat. Then, we couldn't take it. Our hands slipped at the sudden jerking of the boat, and the wave washed over us, pulling us overboard.

I watched as Brother bumped into the side of the boat before the boat disappeared, leaving us still underwater. I swam to the surface in a hurry, not noticing the lack of an arm around me.

I reached the surface, not seeing Brother near me. I ducked my head under the surface to see him slowly floating down. Without waiting, I swam to him and yanked him by his arm up to the surface.

"Star!" dad shouted. "------! Starfire!" he caught sight of me as he pulled Brother's head out of the water. He reached out to me, but I could barely keep us above the raging waves. We kept bobbing above and under, above and under. "------!" Dad yelled Brother's name, when he noticed his unconscious state.

"------! -----, wake up! Oh, please wake up!" I pleaded, feeling my legs growing tired. I made it close enough to the boat, and dad started to take Brother from me. I was in a hurry to lose the extra weight.

"Star, good girl. Hand him to me," Dad said, he placed Brother in the boat. He started to helped me in the boat when another wave hit, and I was pulled underwater again and again. "Star!" my name kept getting called. Fainter and fainter each time I was dunked underwater. I tossed this way and that under the water. I could barely find time to breathe once I reached the surface before I was dunked under again. I faintly heard, "Starfire!" before I was pulled under again.

I almost blackout when I made it to the surface again. "Daddy!" I called out to the boat, which was getting farther and farther with each passing wave. "Daddy! ------!"

"Starfire!" I heard a familiar voice call. He woke up! I heard him call my name! He woke up! He's alright! My big brother's alright!

"Starfire," dad yelled.

"Daddy, ------," I whispered before the darkness took over. When I woke up, I was on the beach. Later that night, I met Violet.

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